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We’ll Rebuild 200-Year-Old Oyo Palace, Preserve Our Tradition — Alaafin Oba Owoade

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Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, has unveiled plans to restore the historic Alaafin’s palace in Oyo, noting the structure is in urgent need of reconstruction. He assured that while renovations are necessary, the palace’s “standard, culture and tradition” would be preserved.

In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, the monarch highlighted that the palace, constructed nearly two centuries ago by Atiba ‘Latunbosun, the first Alaafin of modern-day Oyo, has never seen a full-scale renovation.

“If you have been to the Aafin, you will agree with me that it needs some repairs,” he said, adding that both new constructions and renovations are required to improve the palace’s condition.

He praised his predecessor, the late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, for his role in advancing Yoruba customs. “I commend Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi, my immediate predecessor… I want to take it from where he left it and take our culture and tradition to the next level,” he stated.

Oba Owoade also shared personal details of his path to the throne, revealing he initially declined the opportunity. “I was in Canada when my family—the Mogajis—called… I said I was not interested,” he said. However, he later accepted and expressed gratitude for his emergence, saying, “Thank God I am here today as the Alaafin and I am in Oyo to stay.”

Having spent over two decades abroad—including nine years in England and twelve in Canada—he recalled the moment he received news of his selection: “Around 5 o’clock Canadian time… I saw a message… The headline read: ‘Governor Makinde approves Prince Abimbola Akeem Owoade as Alaafin-elect’. I thought it was a prank.”

On his developmental plans, the monarch outlined priorities such as job creation, youth empowerment, peace, and cultural continuity. “The people need jobs, they need security and peace of mind,” he stressed, revealing ongoing plans to provide training in trades, crafts, and cybersecurity.

He also announced an initiative to establish a community health centre offering free medical care to vulnerable groups in Oyo, including widows and widowers. “I have shipped in some hospital equipment and I think the whole of Oyo is aware of this,” he remarked.

To recognize key contributors to Oyo’s progress, Oba Owoade disclosed that streets would be named in honour of distinguished individuals, both past and present.

BIG STORY

37-Year-Old American Nicholas Giroux Jailed For Life Over Murder Of Nigerian boxer Olugbemi

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A 37-year-old man, Nicholas Giroux, has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 20 years for killing Nigerian-American boxer, Isaiah Olugbemi, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

According to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, Giroux received the sentence on Friday from Judge Richard Trunnell after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a violent crime. The prison terms will run consecutively.

Olugbemi, 27, a father and highly regarded amateur boxer, was shot several times by Giroux on June 17, 2024, along Meadowmist Way in Odenton. He later died from his injuries at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Surveillance video revealed Giroux approaching Olugbemi, firing multiple rounds until he collapsed, and then discharging three more shots before fleeing. Police later recovered 9mm casings from the crime scene.

Investigators noted that Giroux had previously confronted Olugbemi and a neighbour at a cookout about two weeks earlier, where he displayed a firearm, though he did not fire it at that time.

Following the shooting, Giroux confessed during interrogation and directed authorities to the location of the gun he used.

Describing the murder, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess called it “cruel and senseless,” stressing that the victim had a bright future in boxing.

“Mr. Olugbemi was a father and a rising star in amateur boxing. The callousness and lack of remorse on the part of this Defendant is really disturbing. He deserves this sentence. And to the family and friends of Mr. Olugbemi, I hope that today provides some sense of justice for this terrible ordeal,” Leitess said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas, with homicide detectives from the Anne Arundel County Police Department leading the investigation.

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40-Year-Old US-Based Nigerian Daniel Chima Risks 20-Year Jail Term Over ‘$405,000 Romance Scam’

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Daniel Chima Inweregbu, a 40-year-old Nigerian, has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in the United States, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

US prosecutors said Inweregbu conspired to commit mail and wire fraud, while also using a false identity to carry out a romance scam that ran from July 2017 to December 2018.

The scheme, which cost victims over $405,000, involved Inweregbu and his partners contacting Americans through email and messaging platforms. They pretended to be “Larry Pham,” built online romantic relationships, and then tricked victims into sending money to bank accounts they controlled.

Once received, the funds were laundered through intermediaries to conceal their source, ownership, and movement, the DOJ added.

According to court filings:

  • Count 1 carries up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
  • Count 12 also carries up to 20 years in prison, with a fine of up to $500,000.
  • He must also pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count.

Sentencing has been fixed for December 4, 2025, before Judge Brown.

This is not Inweregbu’s first conviction. In December 2020, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced him to 18 months in prison (with an option of a ₦300,000 fine) for a similar romance scam. He was also ordered to refund $15,000 to the US Consulate.

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Most Trump Tariffs Are Illegal, US Court Rules

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A US appeals court has ruled that most of former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional.

Back in April, Trump announced global tariffs on all imports into the United States, including a 14% levy on Nigerian goods. Since then, he has alternated between rolling back some measures and intensifying others.

Trump had argued that the tariffs were legally justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers the president to act against “unusual and extraordinary” threats.

But in a 7–4 ruling, the Washington appeals court disagreed, holding that Trump exceeded his authority. The judges noted that the IEEPA “neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the president’s power to impose tariffs.”

However, the panel stopped short of cancelling the tariffs outright, leaving room for a potential appeal before the US Supreme Court.

Reacting on Truth Social, Trump insisted his tariffs remain intact:
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT!”

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” he wrote.

The former president also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would eventually uphold his tariff policies.

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