News
‘CAN Has Made Meaningful Impact At 45’
The Kaduna State Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. John Joseph Hayab, has noted that the association in its 45-year existence has played a significant role in the development of the country.
Hayab, who is one of the 55 personalities awarded at the 45th-anniversary dinner and award night ceremony at Abuja, last Saturday, noted that CAN has made a positive impact in the affairs of the country, and was still contributing to its development.
He noted, “The existence of CAN in the past 45 years in the country calls for celebration looking at its positive impact in the affairs of the country through its contributions in making sure that Nigerians are carried along in all spheres of life by the government of the day.”
Hayab, who was awarded in recognition for being a continuous advocate for the emancipation of the masses and the less privileged in the society, explained that the award has challenged him to do more for the freedom of the downtrodden in all spheres of life.
According to the state chairman of CAN, “Our association has made an impact in the development of the country, it is growing, it is breaking ground and in spite of the challenges of life, as Christians, we cannot be mourning every day but appreciate God Almighty for His will upon our lives. That calls for celebration.”
He added, “As Christians, we should find reasons in our lives to thank God Almighty and not allow the bad things happening to us make us died before our time God has set for us.”
Hayab is of the opinion that the Christian body is doing marvellous things in the country, and hoped that in the future, good things would come their way.
He believed that the Christian body in the country would continue to impress on the government of the day to do the right thing, stressing that CAN is known for its determination to see that the right thing is being done no matter what may be the situation.
He enjoined the security chiefs in the country to continue to do their best to secure the lives and property of Nigerians, saying that the present service chiefs are doing a good job in spite of the security situation in the country.
“If efforts have been done in the past like it is now, to some extent, we wouldn’t have been where we are today with the security situation. As CAN, we are telling the service chiefs to do their best in securing the lives and property of Nigerians. Honestly, Nigerians are not finding it easy with the present insecurity that many are made to be Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their fatherland,” he stressed.
On the security situation in Kaduna State, the state chairman of CAN enjoined the state government to see the citizens of the state as people that pray for their success every day, and called of the government to relate well with the people for the overall peaceful coexistence and development of the state.
Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
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