The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, has won the Thisday Newspaper and Arise News Minister of the Year Award for 2024.

The minister was accompanied by his wife, Hon. Justice Eberechi Nyesom Wike, his G-5 friends, past and present senators, some members of Rivers State House of Assembly, heavyweight Rivers politicians and others.

Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has indeed promised to allocate land in Abuja for the University of Port Harcourt’s Centre for Leadership and Political Studies.

This centre is envisioned as a Nigerian counterpart to the John F. Kennedy Leadership Center in the United States.

During a meeting with the university’s Governing Council, led by Pro-Chancellor Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa, Wike pledged to provide the necessary land, but clarified that he won’t be using FCT funds for the centre’s construction.

Interestingly, Wike also promised to personally contribute ₦350 million towards building a state-of-the-art multimedia centre at the university’s Convocation Arena, which he had previously built during his tenure as Governor of Rivers State

A student of the Benue State Univeristy, BSU, Makurdi, Mr Abel Agaba, who was reported to have drowned in the River Benue was recovered on Friday.

A source said the deceased, who is a 200-level student of the Chemistry Department of the institution, had gone missing after swimming in River Benue.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Agaba, who lived with family members at Awe Street in the Wurukum area of Makurdi town, went to the nearby River Benue after watching a football match at a viewing center at about 11:45 pm.