Category: Nigerian Tribune

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seemed to be going perfectly, until one little thing went wrong and suddenly you felt like the entire day was ruined? Perhaps you prepared carefully for a presentation, delivered it well and received positive feedback, but then you stumbled over one answer during the question and answer session. Instead of remembering everything that went well, your mind immediately says, ‘I messed up. The whole presentation was a disaster.’

Or maybe you set a goal to exercise regularly, but you missed two days. Instead of telling yourself, ‘I had a difficult week, I can start again tomorrow,’ your mind says, ‘I have failed. I can never stick to anything.’

Sometimes, the mind does not leave much room for grey areas. It wants things to be either right or wrong, success or failure, good or bad, perfect or useless. This is known as all or nothing thinking, one of the common cognitive distortions we can fall into without realizing it.

All or nothing thinking happens when we see a situation in extremes and overlook everything in between. Instead of recognizing that something can be partly successful, imperfect but worthwhile, or difficult without being a complete failure, the mind creates two opposite choices and forces the situation into one of them.

Think about a student who receives 75 percent in an examination but focuses entirely on the 25 percent they did not get. They may say, ‘I failed.’ But did they really fail? The result may not have been perfect, but it certainly does not erase what they achieved.

Or consider someone who has been working hard to improve a relationship. They have had several good conversations, made progress and resolved some disagreements, but then they have one serious argument. Their mind immediately says, ‘We are back to where we started. Nothing has changed.’

This is the problem with all or nothing thinking. It can make us overlook progress simply because the outcome is not perfect.

And perfection can be a particularly dangerous standard because life rarely gives us perfect outcomes. We can do our best and still make mistakes. We can love people deeply and still disagree with them. We can be successful and still have disappointing days. We can be confident and still feel afraid. Two things can be true at the same time.

You can make a mistake without being a failure. You can have a bad day without having a bad life. You can be disappointed about one thing and still appreciate many other things in your life. You can fail at something without becoming a failure.

The mind sometimes struggles with these middle grounds because certainty feels easier. It is simpler to say, ‘I am good at this’ or ‘I am terrible at this’ than to accept that we may be good at some aspects and still have things to learn.

This way of thinking can also affect our relationships. We may begin describing people as completely good or completely bad depending on how they treat us at a particular moment. Someone disappoints us and suddenly we think, ‘I knew they were never a good person.’ Someone makes us happy and we place them on a pedestal, only to feel deeply betrayed when they eventually make a mistake.

But human beings are complicated. We are not one behaviour, one mistake, one disagreement or one good deed. Neither are our relationships.

This is not about making excuses or lowering our standards. It is about seeing the whole picture.

The next time you catch yourself thinking, ‘Either I do this perfectly or I have failed,’ pause and ask yourself, ‘Is there a middle ground here?’ Ask, ‘What went well, even if everything did not go perfectly?’ You may discover that the situation is not as black and white as your mind first presented it.

Here is a little Mind Exercise to carry with you this week. Whenever you notice yourself using words such as ‘always,’ ‘never,’ ‘everything,’ ‘nothing,’ ‘perfect’ or ‘failure,’ pause and ask yourself: ‘Is this really all or nothing, or is there something in between?’

Life is rarely all or nothing. Sometimes, good enough is still good, progress is still progress, and one difficult moment does not erase the whole story. The fact that you have failed before does not mean you will fail again. It simply means that something did not work that time. You have learned, you have grown, and you have another opportunity to try differently.

Life is filled with attempts, lessons, progress, setbacks and second chances. So, give that project another chance. Give love another chance. Apply again. Start again. Try that thing you abandoned because one attempt did not work out. Do not allow one disappointing experience to convince you that the story is already written.

There is a whole world between ‘I failed’ and ‘I am a failure.’ There is also a whole world between ‘it did not work’ and ‘it will never work.’ Sometimes, what we need is not a perfect outcome, but the courage to leave room for another possibility.

And perhaps that is the healthier way to think: not everything has to be perfect to be worthwhile, and not every setback has to become a final verdict on who we are.

Give yourself permission to see the middle ground. There may be more possibilities there than your mind is allowing you to see.

A man in Taiwan was sentenced to five months behind bars after recording his wife’s extramarital affair with a robot vacuum cleaner, the country’s media reported on Friday.

The media reported the bizarre case of a scorned man who, after catching his wife cheating with another man, used the footage to sue them both for compensation.

Unfortunately, that same footage was then used against him in a counter-lawsuit for recording people without their consent.

The unnamed man and his wife married in 2021 and moved in with his parents. They also owned a vacation home that they only visited during the holidays.

Recently during one such visit, the man found a strange toothbrush, which raised suspicions about his wife’s fidelity.

After checking the surveillance footage from the parking garage, he noticed a man who had previously driven his wife home from work.

When confronted, the man’s wife denied any wrongdoing, and he believed her. However, three months later, he accidentally discovered that she had indeed been having an affair.

He had remotely activated the home’s robot vacuum cleaner via its mobile application to surprise his wife by talking to her through it, but he ended up catching her with her lover.

Upon activating the vacuum cleaner’s camera, the husband saw his wife in bed with the man he had seen on the surveillance camera.

His instinct was to confront them immediately, but he kept his cool and decided to continue recording them as evidence in a subsequent lawsuit.

The footage showed his wife embracing her lawyer and walking around the house naked while the man sat on the sofa.

Armed with video evidence, the husband took his wife and her lover to court, demanding NT$2 million ($68,000) as compensation.

The judges ruled that the man’s extramarital relationship surpassed the boundaries of friendship and ordered them to pay the cheated husband NT$500,000. Unfortunately, his success was shaded by a counter-lawsuit filed by his wife.

The video evidence captured with the robot vacuum cleaner may have helped the man prove his wife’s unfaithfulness, but it also proved that he had recorded the two lovers without their consent.

He claimed that his actions were justified, but the court ruled that marital obligations do not supersede a person’s right to privacy, and he had no right to record his wife and her lover without their consent.

Under Taiwanese law, recording or disclosing another person’s private activities or information without informing them carried a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 300,000 Taiwanese dollars.

In this particular case, the husband was sentenced to five months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of 150,000 Taiwanese dollars.

A 32-year-old truck driver, Oriyomi Ayesoro, has been convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for unlawful transportation of 2,647 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa.

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court sentenced the truck driver after he pleaded guilty to a one-count charge filed against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The judge equally ordered the interim forfeiture of the white Iveco truck with registration number FKJ 271 IYL and Chassis Number SBCAIA000B015241, used to convey the illicit drugs, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

In addressing the court, the counsel for the NDLEA, Paul Ekuri, stated that the convict was arrested on July 9, 2026, at Abraham Adesanya Street, Lekki, Lagos, while transporting the banned substance from Alasia Tipper Garage to Berger, Lagos State.

According to the charge designated FHC/LAG/CR/642/2026, the offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 11(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Ayesoro pleaded guilty to the offence when the charge was read to him.

Therefore, consequent upon his guilty plea, the counsel for the NDLEA prayed to the judge to convict and sentence him accordingly and to order the forfeiture of the truck to the Federal Government.

Even the convict’s lawyer, Dennis Warri, did not oppose the request for conviction but opposed the final forfeiture of the truck, citing several legal authorities and provisions of the NDLEA Act.

Handing down his judgment, Justice Aluko sentenced Ayesoro to five years’ imprisonment but gave him an option of N1 million fine instead of the jail term.

The judge further held, while speaking on the fate of the truck, that the onus is on the vehicle owner to prove that the crime was committed without his knowledge or consent.

According to Justice Aluko, ‘The owner of the vehicle, of the truck, is given a period of seven days from today to place facts or evidence before the Court to show cause why the final forfeiture order should not be made over the truck.’

Uber’s announcement to exit Nigeria has introduced significant uncertainty into an ongoing dispute involving e-hailing drivers, passengers, and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) regarding airport pickup regulations. This conflict has been acknowledged by FAAN in two separate statements, yet complaints from drivers in Abuja and passengers in Lagos continue to arise.

On Wednesday, Uber stated that it would discontinue its operations in Nigeria effective September 2, 2026, ending a 12-year presence that began in Lagos in 2014. ‘After a thorough review of our business, we have made the tough decision to wind down our operations in Nigeria,’ the company announced.

Uganda also saw a similar shutdown on the same day; however, Uber clarified that this decision was ‘limited strictly to these two markets.’ This exit is part of a broader global restructuring that includes a 10 percent reduction in workforce.

In Abuja, Shifaw Rahman, who operates a car hire service called ‘Ride With Shiffy,’ expressed concern that Uber’s departure further exacerbates the losses drivers have already endured due to FAAN’s restrictions on e-hailing services at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

‘Uber leaving Nigeria is honestly a big loss, particularly for drivers. It connected me with more reliable clients, including international passengers. Their customer service was prompt and professional, and having a physical office for issue resolutions made the platform feel seamless and dependable,’ Rahman said.

Rahman noted that FAAN had barred Bolt and other e-hailing operators from the airport for several weeks before allowing Bolt to resume operations ‘just a few days ago,’ but she described the current arrangements as still unsettled.

Additionally, FAAN continues to charge a ?2,000 fee for airport pickups, even when the passenger is someone known personally rather than through an app booking.

FAAN’s own statements, released in August, confirm parts of this timeline while disputing others. In a release dated August 20, the Authority stated that its position ‘is not, and has never been, directed at limiting passengers’ access to transportation options.’

Instead, it attributed these restrictions to concerns over ‘passenger solicitation and touting,’ as well as the need for ‘operational visibility’ over vehicles and drivers at the airport. The release clarified that ACHRAMS, FAAN’s car-hire management platform, ‘is not an e-hailing application and is not intended to compete with’ Uber, Bolt, or similar services.

A follow-up release dated August 27 and signed by Henry Agbebire, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, directly apologized to affected passengers.

‘We sincerely apologise for the difficulties this caused our passengers,’ the statement read, adding that FAAN and Bolt had ‘reached an agreeable operational framework’ allowing Bolt to commence its services at FAAN-managed airports immediately.

FAAN also stated that it remained ‘engaged with other e-hailing operators’ to address outstanding issues and denied any intention to create a monopoly in airport transportation.

The dispute has extended beyond Abuja. Respondents to FAAN’s Instagram statement have raised similar concerns about fares at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

A commenter with the handle @tywo_omole noted that FAAN’s approved airport transport system charges as much as ?30,000 for a trip from the airport to Ikeja, compared to the ?5,000 to ?8,000 previously charged by e-hailing platforms.

Another commenter, @sisibiola, stated that FAAN-affiliated cab drivers were charging ?12,000 for a trip to GRA Ikeja, which typically takes under 10 minutes, citing airport parking fees as the reason.

Additionally, @ktrineempire asked FAAN to disclose the terms of its agreement with Bolt after being quoted ?30,000 for a ride within Ikeja.

In response to these fare complaints, FAAN’s statement released on August 27 clarified that these rates were ‘not newly imposed by FAAN or created by ACHRAMS.’

The authority explained that airport taxi fares have long existed independently of the application and that ACHRAMS merely made these pre-existing rates more visible to passengers.

This visibility, they noted, understandably raised concerns when compared to the lower fares that passengers had become accustomed to with e-hailing platforms.

A separate, unverified claim posted on the same FAAN Instagram thread by a commenter using the handle @folaitanjimi_, who described herself as a driver displaced from Bolt’s airport shuttle work, alleged that drivers caught picking up Bolt passengers at the airport were fined and had their tires deflated. This claim has not been independently verified, and FAAN has not addressed it directly in its public statements.

Bashir Ahmad, a former presidential aide on new media under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, suggested on X that driver behavior may have contributed to Bolt’s decision to exit the market.

He pointed out that the phrase ‘please cancel the trip so we can go offline’ has become familiar to many riders, indicating a pattern in which drivers exploit Uber’s platform to connect with customers before taking them off the app to avoid commission fees.

Ahmad warned that this ‘short-term greed’ could ultimately lead to the exit of Bolt, inDrive, and other ride-hailing platforms from the country, as the burden of attracting and connecting drivers with passengers falls primarily on the platforms themselves.

FAAN has not issued any additional statements specifically addressing Uber’s exit, and their most recent public release predates this announcement by about a week.

Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) housemate Gerald Adebija, popularly known as Gerald, has been evicted from the Season 11 reality show.

His eviction came during the latest live show as housemates continued their battle for survival in the competition.

Following the eviction, Barry was named the Most Influential Player of the Week in the Big Brother Naija house.

However, in line with this week’s ‘Switch’ theme, Barry will not receive the usual immunity attached to the Most Influential Player title.

Instead, he was rewarded with a BB Box.

Barry also won an air fryer after participating in the spin, adding another reward to his week.

The development makes Barry the latest housemate to claim the Most Influential Player title in the ongoing BBNaija Season 11 competition.

Meanwhile, Gerald’s eviction further reduces the number of housemates competing for the grand prize as the reality show progresses.

Candidates who will be below 16 years old by September 30, 2026, fall into the underage/exceptional category, and JAMB stated that their results would only be released after the required evaluation process.

If the candidate’s result has now been released, follow these steps:

Visit the JAMB e-Facility portal.

Log in using the candidate’s registered email address and password.

On the dashboard, select ‘Check UTME Examination Results’ or the relevant result-checking option.

Enter the required details, if prompted, and submit.

If the result has been released, the candidate’s UTME score and subject breakdown will be displayed.

If the portal shows ‘No Result Yet,’ the result may still be undergoing the process applicable to underage candidates.

Check by SMS

The UTME results for underage candidates can also be checked by sending UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 using the phone number used during UTME registration.

Important information for underage candidates

JAMB’s general admission age requirement is 16 years by September 30, 2026. However, exceptionally talented underage candidates may be considered through JAMB’s special assessment process.

Underage candidates who achieved the required high score may also be invited for further assessment before their results are fully processed.

Three years after the Federal Government approved a three-month N25,000 monthly palliative for vulnerable Nigerians following the removal of fuel subsidy, pensioners are still waiting for payment, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The union, in a letter to the President, appealed for the immediate release of the N75,000 total relief to pensioners, saying none of its members had received the approved payment since the measure was announced in October 2023.

The NUP, through its General Secretary, Comrade Godwin Amadin, said the palliative was approved as part of measures to cushion the impact of subsidy removal on vulnerable Nigerians, including pensioners.

According to the union, the approval was received by senior citizens ‘with joy and renewed hope,’ particularly because pensioners have been among those hardest hit by rising costs of food, drugs, transportation and electricity.

‘However, we are constrained to inform Your Excellency that no single pensioner has been paid this approved palliative to date,’ the NUP said.

The union expressed concern that the prolonged delay had further worsened the hardship facing pensioners, many of whom, it said, had served the country for 35 years or more under specialised public service conditions.

It argued that the N75,000 due each beneficiary would have provided significant relief for food, medication and other basic necessities had it been paid promptly.

The NUP therefore appealed to Tinubu to direct the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) to commence payment of the palliative to pensioners nationwide.

The union also pointed out that the palliative had already been paid to civil servants ‘almost three years ago,’ further fuelling its demand for immediate action on the pensioners’ outstanding payment.

The pensioners said they had already provided verified data to NASSCO to facilitate ‘seamless, transparent, and direct payment’ to beneficiaries.

The union commended the President for the regular payment of monthly pensions and the recent approval of N25 billion for the implementation of pension harmonisation and payment of other pension arrears.

It urged the administration to extend the same commitment to the outstanding palliative, saying its release would help restore hope and dignity to senior citizens.

‘We have absolute confidence in your ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ and your commitment to ‘leaving no one behind’,’ the union said, appealing to the President to urgently intervene.

I was diagnosed for depression some years ago. Since then, I have been taking anti-depressant pills. I now feel okay and more importantly, I am tired of taking the drugs. Can I stop taking them?

Luke (by SMS)

Don’t do anything until you talk with your prescribing doctor. The name of the game is a slow wean. Since your body has become accustomed to receiving the chemicals from the antidepressant, quickly stopping it will require an adjustment from your body that it’s not ready for.

When this happens, symptoms of depression can come rushing back. In such cases, you may find it takes weeks to months to recover and get back to where you were before. For this reason, it will be better for you continue to take your medications.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Nigerian Army (NA), Major General Auwalu Mahmuda, has warned troops to desist from substance abuse, misuse of social media and other related vices.

He gave the warning during his visit to 12 Brigade Area of Responsibility (AOR) from September 2 to 4, 2026, as part of his maiden operational tour of formations and units under his command.

He was received on arrival by the Commander, 12 Brigade, Chari Maigumeri Barracks, Lokoja, Brigadier General Kasim Umar Sidi, who briefed him on the operational activities within the Brigade’s AOR.

Speaking during the visit, the GOC, Major General Mahmuda, commended the commander and his troops for the tremendous operational successes recorded, particularly the recent rescue of 15 National Youth Service Corps members and six civilians abducted in Kogi State.

He further thanked them for their efforts in keeping Kogi and adjoining states safe and calm for socio-economic activities to thrive. He said this was responsible for the sharp decrease in criminal activities.

The GOC emphasised the strategic importance of Kogi State as a corridor to the eastern and southern parts of the country, urging the troops to sustain the operational tempo by ensuring that the state remains peaceful and calm.

Relatedly, the GOC visited the 21 Battalion Headquarters, Ayingba, in Dekina Local Government Area, where he was received by the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Godiya Solomon Monde.

He addressed the troops and commended them for their resilience and dedication to duty, which he said had translated into several operational exploits. He said this had brought sanity to Kogi East and glory to the fatherland.

He urged them to sustain the operational tempo by denying criminal elements freedom of action. The GOC underscored the importance of discipline, adding that it remains the bedrock of the Nigerian Army.

He charged them to maintain the core values of the Nigerian Army, in line with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu’s, command philosophy.

Major General Mahmuda emphasised the need for sustained operational readiness and effective collaboration with other security agencies and critical stakeholders.

A pastor of the Celestial Church of Christ, Iri Orun Parish, Bidemi Odukoya, allegedly killed his wife at their residence in Ogooluwa community, Akiode Ibogun, in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, before later dying after jumping in front of a moving truck.

According to Punch, Odukoya, who was the father of three boys, reportedly threw himself in front of a truck along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway shortly after the incident.

The incident reportedly happened around 2am on Monday, August 31, following a fight between the couple.

A neighbour, Oluwatoyin Oseni, said the couple had a history of domestic fights, some of which left the wife injured.

‘Sincerely, Mummy Daniel and her husband, who we fondly called Iri Orun, have always engaged in domestic fights. Recently, I had to help take care of the wife after their usual fight,’ Oseni said.

‘There was even police involvement, after which we thought that the misunderstanding had been settled.

‘It was after the tragedy of Monday, August 31, that we got to understand that both husband and wife had reportedly not been on speaking terms since June as a fallout of their regular squabble.’

Oseni said the couple’s 14-year-old first son, Daniel, alerted her around 2am after his father allegedly attacked his mother.

She said she and another neighbour went to the couple’s home and found the woman dead on the ground.

‘We later got to hear that the Shepherd used a machete and wooden stool to smash the head of his wife. We also saw Daddy Daniel with a cutlass in his hand,’ she said.

‘As I was asking him why he would go to the extent of killing his wife, he calmly said that he too was as good as gone. But because he was holding the cutlass, we could not move closer.

‘He later went inside the house, but we never knew that he had escaped that midnight from the community to go and kill himself at Ifo along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.’

The youth leader of the community, Seun Adelana, said the couple’s disagreement was reportedly linked to allegations of infidelity.

‘The husband was said to have been alleging that the wife was dating another man, and some people also said that the shepherd was dating another woman,’ Adelana said.

‘So, this is what we gathered led to the altercation, which made the husband kill the woman.’

The Baale of the community, Taiwo Akiode, said some residents in Ifo later saw Odukoya on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

‘Some people at Ifo told us that when the deceased got to the expressway, he was crossing the expressway back and forth repeatedly,’ Akiode said.

‘He later sat on the divider, after which he saw an oncoming truck and jumped before it and died.’