Author: damazah@gmail.com

Kayode Tokede  Amidst uncertainty in the business environment, banks borrowing from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) dropped by 96.04 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to N2.33trillion in half year (H1) of 2026 from N58.91 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025.  Nigerian banks borrow from the CBN through  Standing Lending Facility (SLF) window in a move to meet critical overnight obligations. CBN data showed that banks use of SLF declined in 2026  half year compared to 2025, reflecting stronger liquidity and reduced reliance on the apex bank.  Also, the data showed that banks took caution after the CBN withdrew regulatory forbearance letting…

Anthropic. The Information. The session before a long holiday weekend. It was a toxic combination that crushed chip stocks on Thursday. The market was closed Friday in observance of the Fourth of July — so, understandably, Thursday’s trading volume was light, which made stocks vulnerable to big swings. Here’s what happened. Tech media outlet The Information put out a story Thursday, reporting that Anthropic is in talks with Samsung to manufacture a custom artificial intelligence chip. Anthropic’s prowess as a maker of leading AI models is already setting the company up for one of the biggest initial public offerings of…

The new statistics released by PEER were made public as a result of a lawsuit PEER and other groups filed to compel the Chemical Safety Board to disclose industrial chemical releases as required by the Clean Air Act. A federal judge ruled in 2019 that communities have a right to know what hazardous chemicals are released nearby. Yet Trump’s EPA removed a public data tool designed to inform communities of nearby risks last year. President Trump has also tried to eliminate the Chemical Safety Board by withholding funding, though Congress has continued to fund the agency. Earlier this year, the…

Ademola Adeleke is the Governor of Osun State and a man currently fighting on several fronts at once to keep his job. Adeleke won the governorship on the PDP platform in 2022. When a national leadership crisis tore the PDP apart, he left and adopted the Accord Party as his vehicle for re-election. The August 15, 2026, election is now weeks away. The APC’s candidate against him is Bola Oyebamiji, presented as a financial expert, and the party is pressing every lever available to push Adeleke out before the polls. The most serious attack is legal. A Federal High Court…

The federal government has distributed drugs, ambulances, and emergency obstetric and newborn care equipment worth approximately ₦10 billion to health facilities in Bauchi State. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, inaugurated the distribution on Saturday. Mr Pate stated that the intervention is part of federal efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery and improve maternal, newborn, and child health services across the state. In addition to general equipment, the government has provided free delivery kits for pregnant women, alongside sexual and reproductive health commodities. According to the Minister, general hospitals and 20 primary healthcare (PHC) centres will receive…

Norway’s forward #09 Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the 2026 World Cup round of 16 football match between Brazil and Norway at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford on July 5, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP) Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway sealed a stunning 2-1 upset over Brazil on Sunday to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Manchester City striker Haaland headed Norway into the lead on 79 minutes and then crashed in a second in the 90th minute at the MetLife Stadium to bury Brazil’s hopes of a sixth World…

K-pop group Ateez has scored its third No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with “Golden Hour : Part.5.” The album starts with 228,000 equivalent album units, with 223,000 accounting for pure album sales thanks to 30 CD variants and five vinyl variants. This marks Ateez‘s ninth top 10 on the albums chart and their third topper following “Golden Hour : Part.2” in 2024 and “The World EP.Fin : Will” in 2023. With their latest entry, the group secures the most top 10s of any collective in the 2020s, breaking its tie with Stray Kids and Tomorrow X Together. The group,…

Femi Fani-Kayode My dearest brother Prince Nazir Ado Ibrahim of the Royal House of the Atta’s in Ebiraland, Kogi State has passed and it has hit me hard. We grew up together, shared an eventful and rich childhood with many remarkable experiences and went through thick and thin together for 60 years! I thought we would grow old together and share the memories of our childhood whilst in retirement. I thought we would comfort each other in old age whilst the world quietly passed us by. I thought so much and planned so much but alas you are gone! You…

Erling Haaland delivered another masterclass as Norway stunned five-time champions Brazil 2-1 on Sunday to reach the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in the country’s history. The prolific striker scored twice in the second half in New Jersey, extending his remarkable scoring streak to 27 goals in his last 14 competitive appearances for Norway and ending Brazil’s hopes of winning a sixth World Cup title. Norway started brightly and thought they had taken the lead early when Patrick Berg found the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after Alexander Sørloth was adjudged…

At first, Jesus did not believe it was possible, but then he heard his father shouting out from the rubble, saying: “Don’t leave me here.”“I said, ‘Trust me: Stay calm. Keep the kids calm over there. I’m not leaving here without you,'” Jesus recalled.Jose had been trapped for more than an hour by that point, unsure of his fate. He and his two younger sons had survived the collapse with relatively minor injuries, but dangers remained. The debris could still shift and crush them.“The first thing I thought of was my children. I had the little one right here,” Jose…