Mental health professionals have raised concerns over the psychological and emotional impact that paternity fraud could have on children’s well-being. The physicians warned that paternity fraud could lead to suicidal ideation and emotional distress among affected young people. Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise, the experts noted that the emotional fallout from learning about a non-biological parentage could be profound on children, especially when not properly communicated. According to them, in some cases, paternity revelations could lead to a crisis of identity, which in extreme cases, manifests as suicidal thoughts or severe emotional turmoil. In recent years, Nigeria has witnessed a…
Author: UZDO Media
Google, Netflix, Facebook and other foreign companies operating in Nigeria paid N2.55tn in taxes to the Federal Government in the first six months of 2024, Sunday PUNCH reports. The amount represents an increase of 158.76 per cent from N985.27bn collected in the preceding period of 2023. The figure includes Company Income Tax and Value Added Tax, collated from data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics. According to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, CIT is a 30 per cent tax imposed on companies’ profit, and VAT is a 7.5 per cent consumption tax paid when goods are purchased, and services…
Many filling stations in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, have shut down due to high cost of sourcing petroleum products from third party marketers other than the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Investigation reveals that some filling stations in the city that sell petrol to the people at prices between N1300 and N1350 were the ones that lifted the products at costs more than NNPC control prices. In an interview, the Executive Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Aba branch, Mazi Oliver Okolo, said that the NNPC had not supplied petroleum products to their members in the…
Prominent northern leaders have blamed the scourge of out-of-school children on the failure of state and local governments to make sufficient investments in basic education. The leaders, who spoke in separate interviews with Sunday PUNCH, also identified indoctrination and insurgency as some of the factors responsible for the millions of out-of-school children in Nigeria particularly in the northern region. According to 2023 statistics from the United Nations Children’s Fund, there are 10.2 million and 8.1 out-of-school children at the Primary and Junior Secondary School levels respectively, making Nigeria home to the highest number of children out of school in the…
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has declared the September 21 governorship election a “do-or-die” affair, warning that the poll must not be rigged. Obaseki made the call as the acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ilia Damagun, vowed that party members would defend their votes “with blood.” Obaseki and Damagun spoke on Saturday during the grand finale of the PDP’s campaign for its governorship candidate in Edo State, Asue Ighodalo. Twelve PDP governors and the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, attended the event. Speaking at the rally which was held at Garrick Memorial Secondary School in Benin,…
Two individuals are feared dead following a chaotic shooting during the Ijaw Youth Council election in the Abuloma area of Port Harcourt on Saturday. The election, organised by the IYC central zone to elect new executives, had initially been postponed but was rescheduled for Saturday. According to reports, the election was disrupted midway when gunmen stormed the venue and opened fire indiscriminately. In the ensuing chaos, members of the council fled for safety, with two unidentified individuals reportedly struck by stray bullets. The election was abruptly halted. In response to the incident, the Rivers State Police Command launched a manhunt…
…..Gynaecologists lament rising trend Maternal health experts are worried about the pronouncements of some pastors and their activities in health matters relating to pregnancy and delivery. These have denied a lot of pregnant women access to specialist care and have led to the death of women during childbirth, CHIJIOKE IREMEKA reports Late Bucky Adebowale was hale and hearty during her first trimester until hypertension set in at the late stage of her pregnancy. According to her elder sister, Sola Osundare who was still grieving her demise, Adebowale was eagerly awaiting the birth of her first baby, but it was just…
Chima Azubuike writes about the harsh reality faced by tomato and pepper farmers in Bula community in Gombe State, due to lack of storage facilities, which not only jeopardises their earnings but also casts a long shadow over Nigeria’s agricultural sector Bula, a small agricultural hub nestled within the expansive plains of Akko Local Government Area, Gombe State, is known for its vast fields of tomatoes and peppers. Here, under the sun’s unrelenting gaze, the farmers work diligently, cultivating these crops that promise high profits but come with significant challenges. Among these farmers is 35-year-old Aliyu Maikudi, a man who,…
Daniel Dubois has boldly declared his intention to knock out Anthony Joshua in their upcoming IBF heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium on September 21, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The 26-year-old Briton, who brands himself as “a good destroyer,” is confident he can deliver only the second knockout defeat of Joshua’s professional career. “I aim to knock him out. That’s the programme. That’s the mindset; that’s the intention coming into this fight,” Dubois told Sky Sports. “I’m going to focus my whole life on destroying him and just being a good destroyer, a good conqueror. Don’t wait. Go out there.…
Team Nigeria, comprising Bomo Kigigha, Suleiman Azumi, Enomah Emmanuella, and Deborah Quickpen, departed the country on Saturday for the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad Budapest 2024, taking place in Budapest, Hungary. The quartet will vie for honours in different categories of the event, which started on September 10 and will run through September 23 in the European nation. Notably among them is Nigerian chess prodigy Deborah Quickpen, a wildcard entrant who was recently awarded the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) award by FIDE. The 13-year-old Nigerian champion, who is one of the players to watch in her age bracket at the event,…