President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited Benue State to commiserate with and assess the situation of victims from the deadly attack in the Yelewata community.

Upon his arrival at the Tactical Air Command of the Nigerian Air Force Base in Makurdi, the president accompanied by Governor Hyacinth Alia and other government officials, proceeded directly to the Benue State Teaching Hospital to meet with injured victims, including adults and children suffering from gunshot wounds, burns, and trauma. The president was received by mourners adorned in black.

Meanwhile, hours before the President’s scheduled visit to Benue, the Lafia-Makurdi highway, a crucial link to the state capital, became impassable due to severe flooding.

Heavy rainfall caused the road to be submerged, leaving commuters and members of the presidential advance team stranded.

The disruption raised concerns about the logistics and security of the President’s visit.

Videos showing primary school pupils standing in the rain to welcome President Tinubu’s convoy have sparked widespread outrage.

Despite a public holiday declared by the state government to honor the President’s visit—primarily to sympathize with victims of the deadly attacks in the state—the children were seen singing the national anthem by the roadside as Tinubu’s motorcade passed through Makurdi.

Their faces were blurred in the videos for privacy. The videos went viral on social media, drawing strong condemnation from Nigerians.

Critics, including Yemi Adamolekun, Executive Director of Enough is Enough Nigeria, called it a “crime” to subject children to such conditions.

Following his hospital visit, President Tinubu met with stakeholders at the new banquet hall of the Benue State Government House.

During the meeting, President Tinubu stated that the value of human life is greater than that of a cow, he also publicly questioned the Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun about the lack of arrests in connection with the incident.

During the meeting Tor Tiv The Fifth, His Royal Majesty James Ayatse, highlighted the severe nature of the ongoing killings in Benue State.

He emphatically stated that the violence in Benue is not merely a farmer-herder clash but a full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign.

Nursery and primary school pupils of Ugwuoye Primary School in Nsukka Local government area of the Enugu state were left stranded in their classrooms as floodwaters took over the school premises.

In India, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the British man, who was the sole survivor of last week’s Air India crash has helped lay his brother to rest.

His brother, Ajay, was also on the ill-fated flight but did not survive. A visibly upset Ramesh was one of the pallbearers who carried his brother’s coffin to the crematorium in the town of Diu — with his arm and face still covered in white bandages.

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe’s enduring classic marked 67 years since its first publication on Tuesday June 17 1958 in London.

Things Fall Apart was first published in London by Heinemann. The novel tells the story of Okonkwo, a proud Igbo warrior whose life unravels as British colonial rule and Christian missionaries begin to disrupt traditional society.

In the novel, Chinua Achebe captures the deep cultural clash between indigenous African values and Western influence.

Achebe published Things Fall Apart at the age of 28, while working at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.

The novel, translated into over 50 languages with more than 20 million copies sold, follows Okonkwo — a fierce Umuofia leader whose fall, mirrors the breakdown of his community amid colonial invasion.

Rich in Igbo proverbs and traditional structure, the book challenged colonial narratives, offering a bold African perspective at a time when such voices were rare.

Chinua Achebe was born in Ogidi, in present-day Anambra State in 1930. He studied English and history at the University College, Ibadan.

In 2012, Achebe published There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra.

The work re-opened the discussion about the Nigerian Civil War. It would be his last publication during his lifetime; Achebe died after a short illness on 21 March 2013 – in Boston, United States

Nigeria is celebrating a major cultural victory, the return of 119 Benin Bronzes from the Netherlands.

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