MONDAY 9TH JUNE 2025

Following Public Snub, Tinubu Welcomes Political Son, Sanwo-Olu, Back into Family

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Segun James in Lagos

H.E. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR

NGX Targets NNPCL, Dangote Refinery, Others in New Listings

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) at the weekend disclosed that it is pursuing new listings in the public, oil and gas as well as other sectors of the economy, citing the state oil company--Nigerian National Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Petrolchemicals as prime targets.

The NGX Group Chairman, Dr. Umaru Kwairanga made the disclosure at the FLOC 2025 Summit in Kano.

In an address he delivered at the summit themed, "Reimagining Nigeria’s Economy for a Prosperous Future: Where We Were, Where We

Are, and Where We Should Be in the Next Decade," Kwairanga disclosed that the NGX was confident of listing Dangote Petrolchemicals very soon.

He said, "We are pursuing new listings in the public sector, oil and gas and other sectors. The government has affirmed its commitment to sell a stake in NNPC Limited and we are confident of listing Dangote Petrolchemicals very soon. "These are transactions that will increase our market capitalisation geometrically and attract many local and foreign investors to invest in the market."

According to him, over the decades,

Nigeria's economic trajectory has been shaped by global market shifts, domestic policy experiments, and most importantly, by the resilience of its people.

"Today, we find ourselves at a critical juncture—recovering from periods of volatility, recalibrating our priorities, and setting our sights on transforming Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy.

"But as history has shown across the globe, no country has made the leap to economic prosperity without a vibrant and inclusive capital market at its core. When we examine successful economic transformations across markets such as

South Korea, Singapore, and Rwanda, one consistent factor remains: the presence of deep, liquid, and accessible capital markets that serve as engines of sustained growth," he noted.

The NGX Chairman stated that when he assumed office in October 2022, one of his targets was to deepen and broaden our market, and its a goal that we have been working towards assiduously. On that 5th day of October, 2022, the All Share Index (ASI) was 48,837 basis points with market capitalisation at N26.375 trillion.

However, he observed that as at the end of May 2025, the ASI closed

at 111,742 basis points while market capitalisation was N70.463 trillion. Kwairanga stated that some progress had been made by more than doubling the indices of the market over the last couple of years.

But he added that the current goal of the NGX is even more ambitious.

"When President Tinubu revealed his vision for Nigeria to grow its GDP to at least one trillion dollars by 2030, we keyed into that vision and are determined that the capital market will be at the centre of that drive to a trillion-dollar economy and that our indices will grow in tandem with that vision.

FOLLOWING PUBLIC SNUB, TINUBU WELCOMES POLITICAL SON, SANWO-OLU, BACK INTO FAMILY

associates of the president, saying it was all now over.

Tinubu did not just forgive the governor, but also everyone, who had crossed him in the last few months and decided it was time to move.

The president’s hostility against the governor had been on for several months and discussed in hushed tones until last week, when Tinubu publicly snubbed Sanwo-Olu, lending credence to the much talked about grudge.

This development had also prompted many people to intervene and plead on behalf of the governor for the peace of the state and prosperity of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

But, yesterday, everything came to an end after members of the GAC, came to plead on behalf of the governor, and others who might have erred in the sight of the president.

THISDAY sources disclosed that two prominent members of the GAC had arrived earlier before others to hold a preliminary discussion with the president and by way of laying template for a meeting of the council.

While the larger meeting commenced, Chairman of the GAC, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, THISDAY learnt, welcomed the president to Lagos, and immediately established that it was obvious he was unhappy with some persons in the state, especially the governor and therefore pleaded for mercy.

Speaking after Alhaji Olusi was the Chairman of the APC in the state, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi, who also shared report of developments within the party with the president and the gathering, particularly on the recent local government election primary.

Responding, the president, according to multiple sources, who were at the meeting, said, “It’s all over now. All is forgiven,” assuring everyone in the room that he was no longer angry with anyone, let alone Sanwo-Olu.

The president, according to other sources, also told them that for the GAC members to know that he was no longer angry, he would not touch the report on the council primary elections and passed it as it was brought to him.

It was at this point that SanwoOlu and other members of the GAC prostrated to the president in apparent remorse, appeasement and appreciation for his forgiveness.

One of the sources told THISDAY that the meeting deliberately did not entertain a situation where the president or the governor had to start explaining what happened between them.

They just pleaded for outright mercy on behalf of the governor and the president acceded and the meeting came to a close. Sanwo-Olu, who spoke after the meeting, thanked the president for granting them audience but denied reports of feud between them, blaming instead, “people who are more catholic than the pope.”

The governor, who challenged a reporter with the NTA, interviewing him over alleged discord between him and the president, said, “Did you see any discord? Can’t you see, even you are smiling and I am smiling? There is none.

“You know, there are people who believe they are more Catholic than the Pope. You know, there are things

THE

WISE MEN WHO BROKERED THE TRUCE

that, you see people, you know, they cry more than the bereaved.

“You know, father and son, are things that we’ll always ensure that, you know… there’s nothing at all. He’s my father, he’s my leader, and we are grateful that he’s given us the audience today to come in and say hello to him.”

He said the Ikoyi meeting was a traditional courtesy visit by the GAC, a long-standing practice during festive periods, adding that the visit was also an opportunity to pray with the president, offer well wishes and continued support, while acknowledging the impact of Tinubu’s leadership over the past two years.

"It's our usual festive period courtesy visits, and a time for Mr. President to meet with his brothers, leaders of our party, the Governor's Advisory Council, (GAC) of Lagos State. It's something that they're always looking forward to almost at every festive season or every time he comes around and this is no exception.

"We all came around to felicitate with him, to pray with him, to wish him well, to say to him that Lagosians and everyone is happy with him, that we can feel, we can see the impacts of what he has done in the last two years, and so to wish him well, and to say that he has our best wishes and support at all times.

"He was very happy to see us. Extremely very happy to see us. He was very excited that we are one big happy family, and we are not divided in any form and we all honestly also pledged our full loyalty to him, to his government, as our leader, as our father and it was unanimous."

Highlighting key achievements attributed to the President’s backing, including the unveiling of new Blue Line trains in Lagos, supported by federal interventions, and a reduction in fuel and food prices.

He said, "Earlier today, I went to unveil our new Blue Line trains at the National Arts Theatre, which we just received 12 brand new, four sets each of three new set of trains for the Blue Line.

“At that unveiling, which we

made like a naming ceremony, we actually acknowledged and thank Mr. President because he made it happen for us.

"About a year and a half ago, he supported us and ensured under his intervention for subsidy removal and understanding that Lagos will need additional means of transportation, he supported us and that just some of the things we're talking about.

"So, we're truly excited with what ... and we're not just excited because he's our father, he's our leader, we're excited because we all can feel it. We can see, for the first time, you see petroleum pump price coming down. You see food prices coming down. These are things that put money in citizens pockets. If you've done well, let's say it, you know."

He also spoke on the proposed June 12 protests being planned by some groups, describing the move as baseless.

"We're hearing people saying they want to protest on June 12. What will be the basis? We're engaging them, we're talking to them to do what? In two years, give this President enough more time.

"The economy, you can see, has made a positive bend and so all we need to do is to continue to wish him well and see those effects become reality in the cost of goods, the cost of living, security of life and property."

Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed his loyalty and that of the GAC to the president and the APC party, stressing their commitment to a united front ahead of the local government elections.

"The president charged us to ensure that the forthcoming local government election is peaceful and that we should all go and do our very best and ensure that we continue to keep the flag of the party flying," he added.

Unveiling three new sets of coaches for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line, at the National Arts Theatre Station, Sanwo-Olu thanked Tinubu for his support on the project.

The coaches were imported from China by Lagos Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (LAMATA) and China Civil Engineering

Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Each set has four cars - in line with the operational standards of the Blue Line.

The coaches will expand the capacity of the Blue line. Once the new coaches were put on the tracks, passengers will see reduction in journey time and turnaround.

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos had benefited immensely from the president’s support to subnational, following the removal of fuel subsidy.

According to him, President Tinubu’s intervention has encouraged subnational to pursue initiatives that would help bring about an alternative mode of transportation in addressing cost of living.

“The whole funding and the expansion of Blue Line capacity have been backed by an audacious transaction that has been made possible by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, about a year and a half ago, in his usual understanding, appreciated what the subnational are doing under his Renewed Hope Agenda.

“While we have seen the positive effects of subsidy removal and the impact of embracing the CNG alternative and electricity-powered vehicles, Mr. President also deemed it fit to extensively support us financially in the procurement of these additional rolling stocks. We are extremely grateful. This is a testament that Renewed Hope Agenda is working well, especially for us in Lagos,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu noted that the additional coaches would bring about more predictable and reliable operations as well as improved turnaround time.

The governor further disclosed that the federal government extensively supported Lagos financially in the procurement of these additional rolling stocks.

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos would take delivery of a brand new set of trains to double the capacity of the Red Line, which operates between Agbado in Ogun State and Ebute Metta in the heart of Lagos Mainland.

He said coaches for the Red Line would be twice the size of the Blue

Line due to passengers’ traffic, adding that the construction of the second phase of the Blue Line from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko was on course, and that stations and tracks were already coming out in shape.

The Wisemen Who Brokered Truce

Quite a number of persons, had intervened in the feud between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, but some very important personalities – about eight of them – played very prominent roles and made the eventual truce feasible.

They include Tinubu’s longtime friend and business ally, Chief Dipo Eludoyin; the president’s renowned billionaire business associate, Mr. Gilbert Chagoury; the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; and the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake.

Also, on the list is a former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba; a former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande; a former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori and a former governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola.

These people had met with the president at different times to intervene on behalf of the governor, and did not give up, even when the president was not yielding and still appeared angry and visibly displeased with the governor.

But because of their relationship with the president, they remained adamant and kept making a case for the governor until the president eventually soft-pedaled and forgave the governor.

Dipo Eludoyin

Chairman and Executive Officer of the Paragon Holdings, Chief Dipo Eludoyin, has been friends with the president for almost their entire youth, and had stayed close even as they grew older. He is one of the few that could look the president in the eyes and say his mind without pandering to sentiments. He commands huge respect with the president, and it was on account

of this that he was able to speak to the president and pleaded for mercy on behalf of the governor. Perhaps, his peace offering has been accepted.

Gilbert Chagoury

A billionaire with chain of businesses all over Nigeria, including the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, Mr. Gilbert Chagoury, has moved from being a close confidant of the president to being a family member. They’ve both come of age. Their relationship is one of mutual respect and close ties as Chagoury’s construction company, Hitech, has stepped in to replace Julius Berger, who for the last 30 years of building roads, bridges without let, has been the federal government’s development partner. But the Chagourys have proven to do the same quality infrastructure as Julius Berger cheaper and faster in terms of delivery.

Although he is not one to take inconsequential requests to the president, he is definitely not one the president could glibly say no to. His intervention in the matter could not be quantified, and even if he had looked at it from a business point of view, it has ultimately paid off with yesterday’s truce.

Wole Soyinka

The Revered Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has never shied away from discussing his relationship with Tinubu, even if it would earn him knocks from certain quarters. Yet, he would not abuse the friendship. Prof has met with the president, at least, about two times that’s known to many over the Lagos matter in general. His recent visit to Tinubu was also connected to the governor’s plight and he reportedly made a case for him. Tinubu probably considered the old man’s plea.

Dele Alake

If there was any man, who has been consistent, not because he liked the governor more than his current job, but because he has been able to see the bigger picture and could read the political implications of some of the developments very well, then it is the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr. Dele Alake. For whatever it is worth, the governor owes Alake a bouquet of gratitude. Even more instructive, is his love for the president and the need to protect him at all cost, and also save him from himself. This is why the peace route has been Alake’s only path for the period the crisis lasted. He was the real deal.

Olusegun Osoba

Although older, a former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba and the president had crossed paths politically for almost 40 years. They were also elected governors together in 1999 on the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), in addition to their SDP background in the early ‘90s.

Respectable and always mindful of self-reservation, Chief Osoba is another man, who could also look the president straight in the eyes, tell him his truth and walk away. He, too, had been worried about the

Kwairanga

Chagoury

Ibori

Eludoyin

Akande

Alake Soyinka

Osoba Fashola

INAUGURATED TRACTORS REFURBISHED BY NASENI.. .

ACF Criticises Tinubu for Prioritising 2027 Reelection Campaign over National Issues

Laments

public policy responses to insecurity ineffective Women, South-east group mobilise support for president

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has criticised President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for being obsessed with early re-election campaigns, as well as placing greater emphasis on defections to their fold and manipulating control over the polity ahead of the 2027 elections than national concerns.

ACF said rather than address the

security challenges and other existential challenges confronting the country, the public policies of the administration had remained ineffective.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Muhammad-Baba, ACF also lamented that profligacy and reckless expenditure by public officials were in contrast to sacrifices by citizens. However, in Delta State, a group, FOOG Women Support Group for Asiwaju, promised to mobilise support

for the re-election of Tinubu in 2027. Facilitator of the group, Chief (Mrs.) Esther Okotie-Eboh, the Iye of Warri Kingdom, made the promise, weekend, during the inauguration of the group in Warri, Delta State. Similarly, a group of young professionals from the South-east, under the aegis of South East Progressive Ambassadors (SEPA), called for support from Ndigbo for the re-election of Tinubu.

In a statement by its convener, Mr

John Ikeotuonye, and the secretary, Dr Justin Ogoo Nwankwo, SEPA said it would be to the disadvantage of the zone if Tinubu was not supported in 2027.

But ACF maintained in its statement, “A most perverse illustration of reckless profligacy of public expenditure has been the revelation about insertions, in the 2025 federal budget, for the provision of streetlights at a staggering and unimaginable costs of over N260 million each.

Despite Poor Power Supply, Discos’ Revenue Rise 92% in Q1

Rake in N560bn in 2025 compared to N291.6bn in 2024 FG says sector still illiquid, may approve further hike

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Revenues accruing to electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) in Nigeria rose by 92 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period of last year, a THISDAY analysis of data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has shown.

Whereas in Q1 of 2024, the 12 power distribution firms in the country generated a revenue of N291 billion, however, in Q1 of 2025, the companies raked in a whopping

N560 billion, mainly attributable to the increase in tariffs paid by ‘Band A’ customers as well as efforts to raise the penetration of meters nationwide.

The Discos include: Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Yola and recently Aba distribution company.

In all, in January this year, the Discos generated N178.68 billion; got N191.75 billion in February and collected N188.89 billion in March this year, to hit about N560 billion,

according to the NERC data.

However, despite the additional N268.38 billion revenue increase in Q1, 2025, compared to Q1 last year, the Discos recorded roughly N202 billion, put side by side total amount billed as revenue collection deficit in the first three months of this year.

According to the data, they were able to realise about N560 billion out of a total of N761.91 billion billed to customers during the period, compared to the N291.6 billion collection out of the N368.65 billion billed to customers in Q1, 2024.

In April 2024, the federal government through NERC approved a 230 per cent tariff hike for Band ‘A’ customers, classifying them as those receiving at least 20 hours of electricity daily. The tariff rose from around N66/kWh to roughly N225/ kWh, later averaging about N209.

At the time, the federal government said it aimed to reduce subsidy burden, stating that the cost-reflective tariff will help improve cash flow for Discos and enhance potential investment in infrastructure.

FOLLOWING PUBLIC SNUB, TINUBU WELCOMES POLITICAL SON, SANWO-OLU, BACK INTO FAMILY

larger implications of the situation and continued to intervene until peace was achieved.

Bisi Akande

Call him their political uncle, Chief Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun State, has always been a balancing force among the various political tendencies, either in his state, Southwest or national.

The protem national chairman of the APC, Chief Akande, like Osoba was worried about the Lagos situation, and didn’t like the optics coming from the fact that the president’s homestead was contending with an artificial storm. Even though he was constantly wearing a smiling face, he never allaowed the president to savour a moment of peace until truce was achieved.

James Ibori

One of the former governors in Nigeria, elected alongside President Tinubu in 1999, and who shares incredible closeness with the president is a former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori. Not many people knew this fact about Ibori and Tinubu.

The Odidigboigbo of Delta State always has the president’s ears and curiously, he never abused his relationship with him hence not many people knew this about him. In fact, Tinubu sees Ibori as one governor, who paid a very high price under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s highhandedness against governors in 1999.

He was as worried as many others, who had intervened and

quietly, he, too, spoke to the president on the need for peace. Let’s say his efforts have yielded good fruits.

Babatunde Fashola

Call him the intellectual bulwark of the president, working from the situation room, you still would not have aptly captured the place of Fashola in the heart of the president. Interestingly, they too have had a rough past. That experience has however brought them closer.

However, knowing Fashola's capacity in terms of content and character, he is not one of those the president would look away from. As ‘the first son’ of Tinubu’s political family, having succeeded him and understood the import of the office, his selfless but reasoned

intervention in the matter is incalculable and definitely, the result is what manifested yesterday at the Queen’s Drive home of the president in Lagos.

Apart from the above eight individuals, who have the president’s ears, the roles played the GAC members in the quest for peace until yesterday cannot be understated. As a matter of fact, they have had to endure indignation in the name of seeking peace between the president and the governor.

Thus, either as a group or individual members, the GAC did not just justify the essence of its establishment but has also lived up to the moment. At the end of it all, it was a collective win and Lagos will now know peace again.

“That there has to date been no official denial of such crassly reckless and surreal insertions attests to the insensitivity of public officials and political representatives to the plight of ordinary Nigerians, whose living conditions continue to deteriorate all round.

“Going by precedent, such budgetary insertions are replicated in various ways at state level. As ACF observed a year ago, the existential challenges above are symptomatic of fundamental malaise in the political economy calling for urgent public policy attention.”

ACF added, “Delusional hubris and head-in-the-sand claims continue to characterise pronouncement by officials charged with responsibilities for security in contrast to cries of state governors on ground in locations. Such obsessions and claims only ignore or give blind

eyes to possible mass disillusionment, despair, discontent, hopelessness and angst of the populace.

“That Nigerians continue to endure and could even celebrate occasions, such as the Eid, is a telling testament to their admirable resilience, which ought not to be taken for granted.”

The forum also felicitated with the Muslim communities in Nigeria on the occasion of Eid-el-Kabir, describing it as solemn reminder of the need for humanity’s values of sacrifice, fellowship, and devotion in appreciation of the Almighty God’s benevolence. It stated that the Eid-el-Kabir celebration came amid struggles under economic-cum-existential challenges, ranging from dire costs of living expenses, inflation, rapid deterioration in the value of wages and salaries, among others.

NLNG Upgrades Neonatal Wards, ICU Facility at FMC Asaba

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The Neonatal Wards and Intensive Care Unit of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba, were on Thursday inaugurated with an appeal by the Federal Ministry of Health for more stakeholders to support efforts to improve healthcare facilities for newborns and others in the health sector.

The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) was responsible for equipping the Neonatal Wards, and also the renovation of the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) of the FMC Asaba, with Dr. Phillip Mshelbila, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NLNG duly handing over the projects to FMC Asaba through Dr. Victor Azubike Osiatuma, the Chief Medical Director of the Centre.

Dr. Mshelbila, in a keynote address presented on his behalf by the NLNG General Manager, External Relations, Dr. Sophia Horsfall, expressed delight at the depth of relief the new facilities and infrastructure upgrade would bring families and even the government and medical professionals, particularly because of the lives of the very vulnerable newborns and infants that will be saved as a result of the intervention of the

NLNG through its Hospital Support Programme (HSP).

The managing director said: "As a Medical Doctor, I understand the impact that the newly renovated and equipped neonatal ward and intensive care unit will have in saving lives, especially the most vulnerable newborns and critically ill infants.

"Today's commissioning of these upgraded facilities affirms the transformative impact of the NLNG-sponsored Hospital Support Programme (HSP). It marks a decisive step forward in our commitment towards fostering a healthcare system that works.

"With these enhancements, the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba is now better positioned to deliver care with improved tools, quicker response times, and better outcomes for our youngest and most fragile patients."

The NLNG through the HSP had decisively and strategically stepped into the gap to usher in much relief for Nigeria's health sector especially in the light of the dearth of quality service delivery exacerbated by the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which came with so much pessimism when it shook the more advanced Western and Asiatic countries.

L–R: Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu; Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Kashim Shettima; Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum; and Minister of Agriculture, Senator Abubakar Kyari, as the vice president inaugurated the tractors refurbished by NASENI under its National Asset Restoration Programme in Maiduguri, Borno State, yesterday

UNITED NATIONS’ OCEAN RISE AND COASTAL RESILIENCE SUMMIT...

Dangote Refinery Imports Onethird of Its Crude Supply from US

Set to buy 14 million barrels in June, July Brazil's Petrobras eyes return to Nigeria's oil sector

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

As Nigeria's stunted oil production growth as well as challenges with the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation (DCSO) continue to hobble the Dangote refinery's chances of sourcing feedstock locally, the 650,000 bpd facility in Lagos, has now imported a third of the commodity from the US in 2025.

This year alone, the lion’s share of the oil has been the grade, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland, ship tracking compiled by Bloomberg showed, with the proportion having almost doubled what it was in 2024, the ramp-up year.

Dangote’s elevated purchases

“probably at the margin, supported the Brent market a little,” said Neil Crosby, Sparta Commodities analyst.

“I expect WTI to keep flowing to Dangote to some degree in the future, but the volumes will depend on price,” Crosby told Bloomberg.

The heightened flows are logical as no two crudes are identical and the profits from running them vary depending on what fuels each one churns out, the report said.

WTI offers Dangote advantages over Nigerian crude that result in improved yields of reformate and better gasoline (petrol) blending capabilities, according to Senior Refinery analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd, Randy Hurburun.

A spokesman for Dangote said the increased use of US oil reflects the refinery’s rising processing levels and a reduction of Nigerian crude that’s available to buy.

WTI Midland is by far the largest stream of six grades that set Dated, as the benchmark is known among traders. It was added to the benchmark because of concerns that the other five — North Sea grades Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk and Troll — were slowly running out, making trading potentially more volatile.

Illicit Drug Consignment

Packaged as Green Tea

Intercepted at Lagos Airport

No fewer than 66 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, packaged as green tea have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

According to the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, the seizure made last Thursday was based on credible intelligence received ahead of the arrival of the consignment at the cargo wing of the airport on 11th May. Babafemi, in the statement issued on Sunday, disclosed the NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment, and sustained surveillance around it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday.

He said the Loud consignment weighing 62.2 kilogrammes was concealed inside wraps of green tea that came from Thailand via UAE on an Emirate Airlines flight.

Babafemi said in another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives last Monday intercepted a consignment of 1,665

kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, along Lekki-Ajah expressway.

Two suspects: Gidado Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi were promptly arrested in connection with the seizure.

In Kaduna, operatives of the state command of NDLEA on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna expressway last Tuesday arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam.

In another operation same day, a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer Kabiru Musa (a.k.a KB) was arrested at Kurmin Mashi. A total of 25.7 kilogrammes skunk was earlier recovered from his base.

While a total of 9 kilogrammes of Loud was recovered from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon car marked AAA 975 XU driven by Atari Israel, 45, along Auchi road, Edo State, two young women: Favour Joy and Joy Igwe were last Tuesday nabbed at Ikpoba Hill area of Benin City. Recovered from them include: 106.57 kilogrammes skunk; 1 kilogramme Loud; 800 grammes Colorado and 302 grammes of methamphetamine.

In June and July alone, Dangote is expected to take in 14 million barrels of WTI Midland, according to traders who monitor the company’s buy tenders closely. Trading giant Vitol Group was the biggest supplier of US barrels, lists of vessel bookings showed. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment, according to the report.

The extra WTI flows to the plant also coincided with relatively weak demand for the WTI Midland in Asia in recent months due to Chinese tariffs on US crude and availability

of competing supplies of Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude, Crosby said. Nigeria’s oil sector continues to face significant structural and logistical hurdles, leading to stunted growth, despite the country’s status as Africa’s largest crude producer. One of the core issues is the persistent challenge in ensuring reliable and adequate domestic supply of crude oil, a problem that has not only weakened local refining efforts but has also affected major players like the Dangote Refinery.

At the heart of this issue is a

disconnect between crude production and in-country utilisation. Although Nigeria produces nearly 1.7 million barrels of crude and condensate per day, a substantial portion is exported, often under long-term contracts or hitherto, swap arrangements that prioritised foreign exchange earnings.

This has left local refineries, including modular facilities and the Dangote Refinery, struggling to secure sufficient feedstock.

Meanwhile, Petrobras aims to make Africa its main region of development outside Brazil, the

state-run oil giant's Chief Executive, Magda Chambriard, told Reuters during a wide-ranging interview about the company's strategy. Ivory Coast has already extended the "red carpet" for Petrobras to explore deep and ultra-deep waters off its coast, when it gave the company preference in buying nine offshore exploratory blocks last Wednesday, said Chambriard. She added that Nigeria, Angola, and Namibia have also expressed interest in working with the Brazilian giant.

History as Nigeria's First Indigenous Oil Terminal Makes First Crude Export

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

History was made yesterday when the new Otakikpo crude oil terminal, built by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operator of the Otakikpo oilfield in Rivers state, concluded its first export through the $400 million facility.

It's the first onshore crude export terminal to be constructed by an indigenous company as well as the first in over five decades to be built by any operator in the country, including the International Oil Companies (IOCs).

The maiden cargo from the terminal was lifted by an off-taker vessel, MV by Shell, at 14.00 hours, a proof of the successful construction and operational readiness of the terminal, a statement from the company said.

Congratulating all the parties involved in the technical test-run of the facility, Chairman of Green Energy International Limited, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, appreciated God for making the operations successful.

He also lauded the resilience of the entire indigenous staff of the company who pulled through the complex endeavour. Besides, he expressed the gratitude of the company to all the regulatory agencies who supported and supervised what he described as tan epoch event.

The newly constructed terminal boasts an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, with potential expansion to 3 million barrels. It also features a 360,000 barrels per day pumping capacity for loading export tankers,

making it one of the most significant infrastructure projects in Nigeria’s energy landscape in recent times.

Adegbulugbe said the project, completed ahead of schedule in under two years, has already made history as the first privately developed crude oil terminal by an African operator.

With an initial investment exceeding $400 million and a full-phase development projection of $1.3 billion, GEIL stated that its commitment to expanding Nigeria’s oil export infrastructure is already evident.

Furthermore, the Otakikpo terminal is designed to accommodate up to 250,000 barrels per day of crude injection, while the Otakikpo oilfield currently produces around 10,000 barrels per day.

This, it said, opens strategic opportunities for third-party producers, particularly over 40 nearby stranded fields estimated to hold more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). GEIL’s infrastructure provides cost-effective evacuation for stranded oil, positioning Nigeria for increased production and export growth, the company added. The Otakikpo terminal is seen as a game-changer for Nigeria’s oil sector, especially due to its potential to significantly boost output while reducing dependence on offshore export terminals. With rising global demand for African crude, the terminal is poised to attract more investors and strengthen Nigeria’s position in the international energy arena.

NAFDAC Cautions Nigerians on Dangerous Trends in Counterfeiting, Illicit Drug Distribution

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has alerted Nigerians to new dimensions being employed by certain unscrupulous individuals to pull the wool over the eyes of innocent members of the public and attempt to circumvent the intensified efforts of the agency to crush illicit drug distribution and sale across the country.

NAFDAC said that following the extensive profiling of distributors of drugs and related products recently, particularly in and around the Ogbo-

Ogwu Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, some stores and business outlets in the market have been deserted and their owners and operators apparently gone into hiding.

It said that the agency has uncovered a hideout near Asaba, the Delta State capital, where expired drugs were repackaged with new but fake expiry date meant to deceive even some careful members of the public who might be aware of the new tricks, including cleaning the old label and instructions with chemical substances and putting new labels.

Briefing newsmen in Asaba on the illicit drug 'factory', which was

discovered in a two-storey residential building still under construction in Azagba-Ogwashi community in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, NAFDAC identified the suspect as one Ekene Emmanuel Igwe.

According to NAFDAC's Director, South-East Zone, Dr Martins Iluyomade, the Agency had to arrest one Blessing Igwe, wife of the suspect who was found with the offending fake, expired and counterfeit drugs in the building as the husband was still at large.

Iluyomade disclosed that some of the drugs, including a large volume

of vials of anti-malaria and antibiotic injectables, had expired since about seven years but were being rebranded for the drug market in Onitsha while others were counterfeit. Some of the recovered fake and counterfeit drugs also included expired 280mg Gentamycin injectables banned by the Nigeria Government about ten years ago, he said, warning Nigerians to be wary of the antics of criminally minded businessmen who often instigate innocent people against NAFDAC whenever the Agency clamped down on "the merchants of death" in the drugs distribution sector in the country.

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri (left) and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Pastor Umo Eno, during the United Nations’ Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Summit in Nice, France, on Saturday

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

MAKINDE RECEIVES AFCFTA SECRETARY GENERAL...

Bagudu: Despite Hiccups, Nigeria's Economy on Track

Speaks on reforms, confidence rebound, rising investments Tinubu’s two years better than Buhari’s past eight years, says NWDC member

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, has highlighted bold reforms being undertaken by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration in the last two years saying despite short-term pain, the administration is steadily positioning the nation’s economy for sustained recovery and growth.

This is just as a member of the newly inaugurated North West Development Commission (NWDC), Mallam Aminu Suleiman, pleaded with Nigerians to exercise patience with President Tinubu, describing his two years in office as more impactful than his predecessor’s eight-year tenure.

Speaking with newsmen at the weekend shortly after paying a courtesy visit on President Tinubu in his Ikoyi, Lagos residence, Bagudu commended government’s economic policies, stating that Nigeria is beginning to reap the fruits of longoverdue structural changes.

He said: “We’re not where we want to be, but these steps have turned the economy in the right direction.”

The Minister stressed the Tinubu administration’s decision to end costly subsidies, on fuel, foreign exchange,

and electricity, was transformative.

According to him: “Decades of underinvestment brought Nigeria to a point where even paying salaries was difficult.

“By cutting these subsidies, we freed up resources. Today, subnational governments, states and local governments, have nearly tripled the funds they had before. That’s transformative.”

Bagudu stressed that funds are being channeled into critical sectors: infrastructure, agriculture, consumer credit, digital innovation, and human capital development.

“These are not abstract promises. We are seeing real allocations going to security, education, and economic empowerment,” he added.

According to Bagudu, these reforms are already inspiring a resurgence of investor confidence.

His words: “One of the greatest differentiators between developed and developing countries is the level of investment. Both public and private. We are now correcting years of neglect. That is a Herculean task and that is central to reforms.

“There is a visible return of private capital, both domestic and international. Investors are taking Nigeria seriously

FG Orders Probe of Alleged Patient's Negligence at FMC, Abuja

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, has directed a full investigation of allegations of maltreatment and neglect meted out to an accident victim at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja in Federal Capital Territory.

A circulating online video showed a man who said he acted as a good Samaritan to assist in ferrying an accident victim to FMC Abuja for emergency treatment but was left unattended to for hours by the hospital staff.

In the viral video, the man was heard exchanging words with the nurses on duty who said they cannot evacuate the wounded patient from the vehicle due to lack hand gloves and other needed equipment. However, the management of FMC Abuja in a statement on Sunday said that it has carried out preliminary findings on what happened. It also said that the Minister of

State has directed a full investigation of the incident which is ongoing.

The statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Obadiah Gana, on behalf of the Medical Director, of FMC Abuja said the hospital's emergency department had adequate supply of medical consumables, including latex gloves, contrary to the claims made in the video.

The statement titled: "Preliminary Response by the Management of FMC Abuja on the Online Video at our Emergency Unit" also said that resuscitation equipment and medications were sufficient and that, "no shortage of patient transfer equipment, including trolleys and wheelchairs".

The hospital management said: "We have been made aware of an online video that negatively depicts our hospital. In response, we have initiated a thorough investigation to uncover the facts surrounding this incident. Our preliminary findings indicate the following:

again. They see a government that’s making tough but necessary choices.”

Bagudu likened the administration’s early efforts to laying a strong foundation saying “When someone starts by filling the hole under a house, you might think they’ve done nothing because you don’t yet see the walls. But President Tinubu has been honest. He said from the start: we’re in a hole, not because we want to blame the past, but because critical decisions were delayed for too long.”

He added that as Nigerians celebrate

Eid and the second anniversary of the Tinubu administration, "the administration's reforms are working, investments are rising, despite challenges besetting the country.

Commenting on the growing number of opposition politicians defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including governors from Delta and Akwa Ibom States, Bagudu said it’s a reflection of faith in President Tinubu’s leadership.

His words: “They’ve stated publicly why they joined, because

of the sincerity and direction of this leadership. That’s not politics. That’s belief in a future that is being built with courage and vision".

Also, speaking to journalists shortly after paying Sallah homage to the President at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos, Suleiman praised Tinubu’s leadership, insisting the President is laying the groundwork for long-term transformation.

“Tinubu’s two years is even better than the past government's eight years,” Suleiman said. “Given the full

privilege of a four-year term, I am confident he will transform Nigeria.” Suleiman also hailed the inclusion of the North West in Tinubu’s development agenda, particularly through the establishment of the NWDC.

According to him: "We are the largest population zone in the North, nearly 19 million people strong. It’s a very good development for the North West to be included, and I know, Insha Allah, we will ensure everything goes well.”

Abiodun Highlights Potential of Ojude Oba, Other Festivals to Economy

James Sowole in Abeokuta

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said that festivals like Ojude Oba are critical in the vision to promote the local economy and attract global visibility.

Speaking on Sunday at this year's Ojude Oba Festival held in Ijebu-Ode, the governor said his administration would continue to promote the cultural heritage, not only for the benefit of the Ijebu people but for the enrichment of humanity at large.

"This celebration aligns seamlessly with our administration's development philosophy in building our future together agenda.

"Festivals like Ojude Oba are critical in this vision to promote the local economy, attract global visibility, and fortify our cultural capital.

"Our cultural heritage is a powerful tool for national development," he said.

Abiodun described the Ojude Oba festival as a powerful symbol of communal harmony where religion, tradition, and modality co-exist with the people living under the banner of a shared identity.

According to Governor Abiodun, Ojude Oba has moved from an ordinary festival to become a living heritage that connects the roots and offers direction in a changing world

marked by social fragmentation.

"Ojude Oba is a vibrant fulcrum of a beautiful culture, our pride, our value, and our continuity.

"This year's theme, which is 'Ojude Oba: Celebrating Our Roots, Preserving Our Future,' indeed captures the essence of what we gather to affirm. This festival, Ojude Oba, has succeeded in catching the attention of our youths both at home and abroad.

"This festival has outgrown this place, and we must do something about it," he said

Ojude Oba, the governor emphasized, has become a dynamic entity of tourism, youth engagement, and entrepreneurship, adding that

his administration is determined to expand its reach and impact.

Ondo State Governor, Mr. Lucky Ayedatiwa, represented by his Deputy, Mr. Olayide Adelani, in his goodwill message, described culture as a dynamic vehicle that drives economic development as it promotes tourism and local enterprise, creates jobs, and attracts foreign investors. He said the Ojude Oba festival has set the gold standard for what African culture should represent, as it is not only a celebration but also a means of unity and peace-building, calling for the projection of the festival beyond the state and harnessing its potential for the socio-economic development of the nation.

Ooni of Ife Visits Tinubu in Lagos, Hails Economic Reforms, Move to Restructure Forest Guard

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, on Sunday paid a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu at his Ikoyi-Lagos residence.

During the visit, the royal father commended the president’s efforts to reposition Nigeria on the global stage, just as he applauded the administration’s economic reforms and newly proposed forest guard security structure.

Addressing newsmen after holding court with President Tinubu, the revered monarch said his visit was primarily to mark the Sallah break with the President and to personally

debrief him following his recent trip to Kazakhstan.

“I’m here to greet Mr. President for the Salah break and also to appreciate all the great things he’s doing for our dear country.

“I went to a country called Kazakhstan and came back with feedback. The good things he's doing are opening Nigeria up to so many nations that now want to work with us.”

Oba Ogunwusi explained how Nigeria’s international standing is improving under Tinubu’s leadership, especially in terms of foreign investment and macro-economic policy stability.

He said: "In history, there is no arbitrage again. You bring dollars to Nigeria to do business, and you take it out, no dual exchange between the central bank and the parallel market.

The world is watching us as a nation, and we don’t need to leave everything to the government".

The monarch also emphasized the evolving and increasingly important role of traditional rulers towards nation-building.

His words: "We traditional rulers should lead by example, work in tandem with the government, and give hope to our youth. This is another testimony of hope for Nigerian youth". Commenting on security, Oba

Ogunwusi expressed optimism about the Tinubu administration’s efforts, praising the proposed restructuring of the Forest Guard system as a critical step toward lasting peace and investor confidence.

The monarch hailed Tinubu’s push for economic reforms and grassroots security reinforcement amid ongoing national challenges. According to him: "We’re very happy with the Forest Guard structure and the new platform to bring in more police force to continue to comb the entire forest, both in the north and in the south. Once security is addressed, there will be a solid platform for investment to flow into Nigeria.”

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

L–R: Esteemed investor from Azerbaijan, Mr. Tahir Gozel; Secretary General, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), His Excellency, Wamkele Mene; Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; His Deputy, Barr. Bayo Lawal; and others, during the AfCFTA Secretary General’s working visit to Oyo State, Nigeria, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan… recently

ANNUAL CAPACITY BUILDING SUMMIT...

L-R: Head of People Strategy & Operations, Flutterwave, Victoria Vodunnu; Founder, Empowher Ng, Tobi Alaka; Chief Executive Officer, HerVest, Solape Akinpelu; Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Hon.

and Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer, TRACE, Ego Obiegbunam, during ValueUp

Shettima Unveils FG's Asset Restoration Drive, Inaugurates Power Project

NASENI-led initiative to tackle abandonment issues

Deji Elumoye and Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima has launched the federal government's asset restoration programme as part of ongoing efforts by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to restore and revive the nation’s industrial and agricultural capacity.

The programme, led by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), seeks to

restore over 26,000 broken down but serviceable heavy-duty machines and repurpose nearly 500,000 component scraps that have been lying idle across the country.

Speaking during the launch of the programme at the Borno State agricultural mechanisation farm centre in Maiduguri yesterday, the vice president said the objective of the programme was to reduce waste, cut unnecessary spending, and power national development through localised

innovation and sustainable asset management.

Shortly after inaugurating the initiative, Shettima proceeded to Borno State University where he also inaugurated a power infrastructure project executed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC).

The power project implemented under the Distribution Intervention Projects, includes a 1X7.5MVA, 33/11KV injection substation, 3km of 33KV

line, 2.5km of 11KV line, 2.5km of LT line, and 3 nos. 500KVA distribution transformers.

Shettima said: “For so long, we have been profiled as a nation with poor maintenance culture. This dysfunction cuts across both the private and public sectors, and we owe it to ourselves to say: enough is enough.”

The vice president reaffirmed that the Tinubu administration is committed to building a productive, self-reliant, and diversified economy, with

Oil Theft: Army Arrest 43 Suspects, Dismantle 27 Illegal Refining Sites in N'Delta

Retrieve petroleum products worth over N31million Troops of Operation Hadin Kai apprehend 16 terrorists' logistics suppliers, collaborators

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt and Linus Aleke in Abuja

Troops of 6 Division, Nigerian Army have arrested 43 suspected oil thieves and uncovered 27 illegal bunkering sites in communities in Niger Delta region.

This is as the troops in synergy with other security agencies have also recovered over 161,000 litres of stolen products in the area, between May 26 - June 8, 2025.

In another related development, in its routine update on operational successes of troops across all theatres, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus

Kangye, also revealed that troops of Operation Hadin Kai apprehended 16 terrorists' logistics suppliers, collaborators, and a drug peddler in well-coordinated operations in Damaturu, Yunusari, and Geidam LGAs of Yobe State, as well as Damboa, Konduga, Gwoza, and Kaga. Meanwhile, it was learnt that in Bayelsa State, along ZaramaJoinkrama 4, troops discovered an illegal connection point at Wellhead 10 connected to an illegal refining site.

In follow up operations conducted in the area, five cooking ovens, five reservoirs, five dugout pits, a generator and over 30,000 litres of stolen crude were recovered.

Also, at Biseni Community, Adibawa in Yenagoa LGA, two illegal connection points connected to the pipeline, linked to an illegal refining site were discovered.

In a statement by the Acting Deputy Director of 6 Division Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah, said in Biseni, 19 big pots, 18 drum pots, 36 drum receivers, 19 drum coolants, a pumping, 6 metallic drum receivers stocked with over 4,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO) and over 27,600 litres of stolen crude stored in 460 sacks were handled.

Danjuma revealed that, "Operations

conducted at Luka Creek, around Lagosgbene in Southern Ijaw LGA, led to the discovery of an illegal refining site with over 1,500 litres of stolen products confiscated.

“At Tamogbene in Ekeremor LGA, 71 big pipes, 30 small pipes, concealed under logs of woods, one 40HP engine and a wooden boat were recovered. Two suspected vandals conveying the items in a boat absconded on sighting troops."

During an operation in Rivers State, Danjuma said a fibre boat, one wooden boat and a large wooden barge filled with over 27,000 litres of stolen Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) were intercepted by the troops.

Tinubu Warns Govs: Liaise With Surveyor General,

FMW Before Approving Estate Devt Along Federal Roads

President Bola Tinubu has warned governors across the country to always liaise with the Surveyor General of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Works before considering approving land for the development of estates or other facilities anywhere near federal roads or pathways.

The president, who said the federal government would revoke all building plan approvals the Lagos State Government gave to developers along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, stated this at the commissioning of the reconstructed Deep Sea Port Access Road through

Epe-Ijebu Ode.

The president said: “I have directed the Minister of Works to work with the Surveyor General of the Federation and all the governors on these legacy projects route bypass to procure reasonable setbacks for future land expansion, building of infrastructures to enhance road architecture and return on investment.

“Please, our dear governors, let’s work together. Don’t give planning approvals without collaborating with the Surveyor General of the Federation and the Ministry of Works, please, I appeal to you.”

Tinubu said the 27-kilometre Lekki Deep Sea Port access road,

which was reconstructed under the Tax Credit Scheme, was a strategic investment to boost trade, agriculture, and regional connectivity.

“It is a reinforced concrete road, linking the Lekki Deep Sea Port to major transport corridors, facilitating efficient cargo movement and improving logistics.”

President Tinubu said: “I’m glad the Deputy Governor of Lagos State is here. Take it that we will revoke all those approvals given on setbacks, and please note that we are very serious about it - no more approvals for those unapproved islands being created illegally.”

The president, during the

commissioning of phase 1 of the project on Saturday, had warned developers not to build on the setbacks around the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, stating the federal government had so far paid N18 billion as compensation for the coastal road.

He said the era of indiscriminate development and encroachment on public infrastructure was over.

The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, who presented several road and bridge projects, completed and ongoing across the country, commended President Tinubu for his vision and courage in tackling Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges.

strategic investments in infrastructure, innovation, and local capacity at the core of that transformation.

“This initiative is a response to our cross-generational dilemma about what to do with abandoned and poorly maintained assets of the nation—of the people. It’s a powerful shift in how we think about value, sustainability, and innovation," he said.

Shettima stressed the need to have a national inventory of value waiting to be unlocked, saying that as such “we must commend NASENI for stepping forward with this brilliant idea to mitigate a national tragedy.”

The vice president also noted NASENI’s contributions to national development through technology transfer, local engineering, and adaptive innovation, especially in areas such as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) retrofitting, renewable energy, and agricultural mechanisation.

“We can’t create durable Nigerian solutions to Nigerian problems unless we localise global technologies. Relevant agencies must be supported to point us towards a stabler nation and a promising future," Shettima said.

Praising the leadership of NASENI’s

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Nigeria's former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), has been challenged to disclose the reasons his administration failed to implement the Aburi Accord which would have prevented the nation’s bloody civil war.

Igbo women group under the umbrella of Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) took the former military leader to task following his statement that the civil war was the most difficult period of his life, during a public outing in Abuja weekend.

Gowon stirred the hornet's nest in the speech he delivered when he was honoured with a Lifetime Integrity and Achievement Award at the 5th Convention of the Christian Men’s Fellowship, Abuja Anglican Diocese. He reportedly said: "It was not my choice" to go to war as "I had to do what I did to keep this country together", adding that his decisions during the horrible time were taken with good intentions.

But IWA, in a statement signed by its National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, has countered that Gowon could have still have preserved the

Executive Vice Chairman, Khalil Halilu, the Shettima noted that the agency’s renewed direction is marked by “vision, urgency, and clarity of purpose.”

“The direction NASENI is headed is one driven by action, impact, innovation, and awareness of what the nation needs,” he said.

Shettima also called for public cooperation in safeguarding the assets that will be restored, explaining that these resources belong to the Nigerian people.

“If we restore these vital assets, we must all protect them. These machines, these tools, and these technologies are the property of each of you—of each Nigerian. It’s your collective national inheritance," he added.

Earlier, Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, recalled that under the stewardship of Shettima as Governor of Borno State, 1,000 tractors and implements were procured, along with 1,000 units of planters; 250 units each of groundnut diggers, fertiliser broadcasters, rotovators, and bailers, as well as 25 units of combined harvesters, which is the single largest agricultural machinery investment in the state's history.

unity of Nigeria without waging war if he had implemented the Aburi Accord.

The accord was signed by Gowon and the then leader of the Eastern Region, late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu following a peace conference brokered by Ghana as part of efforts to stop the looming civil war.

It was generally believed that the Aburi Accord would have prevented the secession of Biafra without firing a shot but on return to Nigeria Gowon turned his back on the peace deal.

The Igbo Women Assembly, therefore, told Gowon that it was high time he finally confessed to the world why he repudiated the Aburi Accord and led Nigeria into an "avoidable internecine war with Biafra".

The group urged Nigeria's war-time leader "not to die with the truth about Aburi accord and the real cause of the Biafra war".

"Gowon should tell the world the truth about Aburi accord in Ghana and the Biafra war. He should not go to grave without confessing the truth if there must be true healing for those hurt by the needless civil war," IWA said.

Bennett Oghifo

Mobolaji Ogunlende,

building summit, organised by HerVest in Lagos ... recently

On the ocassion of your historic installation as the Aare Bobagunwa of OwuIle Kingdom and as Otunba Fiwasaye of Adaland. These prestigious titles are a testament to your exceptional leadership, service, and profound commitment to our communities. May your wisdom and vision bring continued progress and unity to both Owu-Ile and Adaland. Wishing you strength, grace, and enduring success in these noble roles.

Hearty Congratulations

ENGR.

ABDULRAMAN OLALEKAN BADMUS

Signed, Ken Etete

www.thisdaylive.com

opinion@thisdaylive.com

ECONOMIC REFORM SYSTEM AND THE POPULACE

KINGSLEY NDUBUEZE

AYOZIE argues that the economic reform points to commitment to transparency and prosperity for the teeming populace

See page 21

A RESCUE PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

World leaders are meeting in Sevilla, Spain, to discuss a future in which countries can thrive, build, trade, and prosper together, writes ANTONIO GUTERRES

See page 21

EDITORIAL PROLIFERATION OF DANGEROUS WEAPONS

Kelechi

Ohiri urges Nigerians to subscribe to health insurance as it’s the strongest form of solidarity to family and fellow citizens, writes BASHIR IBRAHIM HASSAN

INSURANCE FOR HEALTH COVERAGE

There’s something about Kelechi Ohiri that makes you admire his ideas even if you disagree with some of them – he brings a perspective of vast knowledge to his argument. He also brings passionate conviction and passion to the argument.

So, when he sounds dismissive of the potential of free health delivery to achieve universal health coverage, he deserves to be heard. “We’ve tried free programmes in Nigeria politically across the spectrum, and it never works because someone has to pay for the care, even if it is not the patient that pays for it. And when we say free care without it being matched with resources, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Not surprising for one who was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the directorgeneral of the National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA), health insurance is the correct way to go.

He has enunciated his preferred options in health care delivery in policy papers, peer-reviewed publications, and books that he has co-authored on health systems. He has contributed to the work of expert advisory committees for the Institute of Medicine, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank, the Global Fund, and the World Health Organisation. Additionally, he has served on the Board of the World Health Organisation’s Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research and the Programme and Policy Committee of the GAVI Alliance Board.

However, beyond the economics of it, his choice of profession defines his passion. Of this, he affirms, “I am a medical doctor, and I don’t think there’s any medical doctor that is not out to save lives. For me, at the end of the day, I’m fortunate, but there are people that are not. And when we all go back to our maker, they’ll ask you what you did with what you had. I don’t have everything, but whatever is given to me, how do I use it to make life better for the person that can’t make life better for themselves?”

He ponders the following grim spectres: a woman about to die because she does not have 250,000 Naira to pay for a Caesarean section; a woman who is “too young; her body wasn’t ready” and has a fistula and has been abandoned by her entire family in a village; and the man with a stroke or cancer who cannot afford care.

These are critical challenges that humble everyone that the public health system must deal with daily, he says, because he employs a quote: ‘Of all forms of injustice, injustice in healthcare is the most inhumane.’ He asked, “What can we do to reduce that burden on Nigerians? I don’t have any messianic complex, but I just want to ensure that in my own lifetime, when I had the opportunity, I did my best. So hopefully while I’m here, I’ll build on what others have done before, and I will try my best to move the needle a little bit so that it will impact people who live behind the more resilient organisation that can actually continue to serve Nigerians, because a lot of people depend on this. A lot of people depend on this working. And if this doesn’t work, people will get impoverished, and people will die. It’s tough, but I’m sure it’s tougher for other people.”

But, while health insurance is his preferred option, he insists that “explaining how insurance works is also really important.” Just how important is it to do this explanation? “It’s very important to create awareness, but by creating awareness about how insurance works. Insurance doesn’t mean we’re walking into a place that’s free,” he says.

Born in Aba, he earned a medical degree from

the University of Lagos, as well as a Master of Public Health degree and a master’s degree in Public Health and Health Policy and Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During his time at Harvard, he was a healthcare management fellow. He is a Desmond Tutu Fellow of the African Leadership Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Over the course of his career, he has been involved in numerous global expert advisory panels for international organisations, including the Institute of Medicine, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Bank, and the World Health Organisation.

His public sector career includes previous roles as the senior adviser to two ministers of health and the minister of finance in Nigeria. In these capacities, he led the delivery of several large-scale transformation programmes, such as the Saving One Million Lives Initiative aimed at reducing maternal and child deaths and the conceptualisation and design of the National Social Safety Net Programme to alleviate intergenerational poverty. Before then, he was an engagement manager at the London office of McKinsey & Company, where he served clients across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He also worked with the World Bank Group in Washington, DC through the Young Professionals’ Programme, focusing on social protection and strengthening health systems in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

This new organisation needed to step up to the task that it had been entrusted with. And we had a population that was very restless, asking more and more questions. A lot of people who couldn’t afford health care saw a rise in health care inflation. That created a storm that we walked into.

However, the situation was helped by Mr President having signed a compact between the federal government and the states with his signing into law the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative that is championed by the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, under whose watch the ministry began to develop a sector-wide approach to have just one plan and one form of accountability for the system. “He articulated a very clear vision of what he wanted the health system to be. This, together with Mr President’s full backing for our journey towards UHC, provided the strategic direction,” he recalls. “This ended the chaos that we met.”

On integration, there’s the challenge of harmonising the national health insurance system with state health insurance schemes, the private sector-led insurance systems and the schemes of other organisations in the insurance value chain. So, for the synergies achieved, an integrated mechanism needed to be put in place to reduce the fragmentation that exists and the inefficiency to create a more sustainable industry. According to Ohiri, “the new organisation needed to step up to the task that it had been entrusted with. And we had a population that was very restless, asking more and more questions. A lot of people who couldn’t afford health care saw a rise in health care inflation. That created a storm that we walked into.”

To enhance service integration, NHIA has engaged with different stakeholder groups, other health insurance entities, state health insurance agencies, private health insurance, the HMOs, as they are called, other civil society, the ministry and other people, just to get a better sense of developments in the agency, including the policy space. And then a year ago to date, the agency developed a strategy to enhance financial access to good-quality healthcare for all Nigerians.

On integration, there’s the challenge of harmonising the national health insurance system with state health insurance schemes, the private sector-led insurance systems and the schemes of other organisations in the insurance value chain. So, for the synergies achieved, an integrated mechanism needed to be put in place to reduce the fragmentation that exists and the inefficiency to create a more sustainable industry.

Another important development was that the president signed a compact between the federal government and the states with his signing into law the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative that is championed by the Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate.

It necessitated the development of a sector-wide approach, entailing just one plan and one form of accountability for the system. “He articulated a very clear vision of what he wanted the health system to be. This, together with Mr President’s full backing for our journey towards UHC, provided the strategic direction. This ended the chaos that we met.”

Indeed, one of the things Ohiri appears to have found most exciting about his job is the luxury of his agency being under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare led by Muhammad Ali Pate, a former professor of public health leadership in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard University and director of the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children and Adolescents at the World Bank Group.

Dr. Ohiri cherishes the support from President Tinubu, coupled with the backing he has from the minister of Health and Social Welfare.

He says there’s always room to improve the system. “I’m sure there will be better ways of doing it in the future. I don’t have the arrogance to think that what I do is going to be the way to go. Somebody is going to come up with far better ways to do it.”

In the same spirit, he concedes that his predecessors tried their best. He says his successors will have every right to dismantle what he builds and improve on the system “as long as that financial protection for Nigerians continues”.

Hassan is general manager for Abuja and Northern Nigeria of BusinessDay newspaper.

World leaders are meeting in Sevilla, Spain, to discuss a future in which countries can thrive, build, trade, and prosper together, writes ANTONIO GUTERRES

A RESCUE PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

This month, leaders will gather in Sevilla, Spain, on a rescue mission: to help fix how the world invests in sustainable development.

The stakes could not be higher. A decade after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and many global commitments to finance them, two-thirds of the targets are lagging. And the world is falling short by over $4 trillion annually in the resources developing countries need to deliver on these promises by 2030.

Meanwhile, the global economy is slowing, trade tensions are rising, aid budgets are being slashed while military spending soars, and international cooperation is under unprecedented strain.

The global development crisis is not abstract. It is measured in families going to bed hungry, children going unvaccinated, girls being forced to drop out of school and entire communities deprived of basic services.

We must correct course. That begins at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, where an ambitious, globally supported plan to invest in the Sustainable Development Goals must be adopted.

That plan should include three essential elements.

First, Sevilla must help accelerate the flow of resources to the countries who need it most. Fast.

Countries must be in the driver’s seat, mobilizing domestic resources by strengthening revenue collection and addressing tax evasion, money laundering and illicit financial flows through international cooperation. This would provide much-needed resources to prioritize spending on areas with the greatest impact such as education, healthcare, jobs, social protection, food security, and renewable energy.

At the same time, national development banks, regional and Multilateral Development Banks need to come together to finance major investments.

To support this, the lending capacity of these banks needs to triple so developing countries can better access capital on affordable terms with longer timelines.

This increased access should include re-channeling of unconditional reserve assets — or Special Drawing Rights — to developing countries, preferably through Multilateral Development Banks to multiply their impact.

Private investment is also essential. Resources can be unlocked by making it easier for private finance to support bankable development projects and by promoting solutions that mitigate currency risks and combine

KINGSLEY

NDUBUEZE AYOZIE argues that the economic reform points to commitment to transparency and prosperity for the teeming populace

ECONOMIC REFORM SYSTEM AND THE POPULACE

Records have it that no meaningful advancement or development can be recorded within any developing or revitalising economy without such a government putting in place a holistic reform structure that will be able to bring it back to fore. The list of these sectors will cut across the following sectors: banking system, down stream sector, power sector, security apparatus, governance system, political landscape, information & communications technology (ICT), educational sector and tax system, etc.

This article is poised towards x-raying in detail the effect of the Federal government’s numerous economic reforms will have on the general populace or the citizenry.

public and private finance more effectively.

Throughout, donors must keep their development promises.

Second, we must fix the global debt system. It is unfair and broken.

The current borrowing system is unsustainable, and developing countries have little confidence in it. It’s easy to see why. Debt service is a steamroller crushing development gains, to the tune of more than $1.4 trillion a year. Many governments are forced to spend more on debt payments than on essentials like health and education combined.

Sevilla must result in concrete steps to reduce borrowing costs, facilitate timely debt restructuring for countries burdened by unsustainable debt, and prevent debt crises from unfolding in the first place.

In advance of the conference, a number of countries put forward proposals to ease the debt burden on developing countries. This includes making it easier to pause debt service in times of emergency; establishing a single debt registry to strengthen transparency; and improving how the IMF, World Bank and credit-ratings agencies assess risks in developing countries.

Finally, Sevilla must raise the voice and influence of developing countries in the international financial system so it better serves their needs.

International financial institutions must reform their governance structures to enable greater voice and participation of developing countries in the management of the institutions they depend on.

The world also needs a fairer global tax system, one shaped by all governments — not just the wealthiest and most powerful.

The creation of a “borrowers club” for countries to coordinate their approaches and learn from one another is another promising step toward addressing power imbalances.

The meeting in Sevilla is not about charity. It’s about justice, and building a future in which countries can thrive, build, trade, and prosper together. In our increasingly interconnected world, a future of haves and have-nots is a recipe for even greater global insecurity that will keep weighing down progress for all.

With renewed global commitment and action, Sevilla can spark new momentum to restore a measure of faith in international cooperation and deliver on sustainable development for people and planet.

In Sevilla, leaders must act together to make this rescue mission a success.

GUTERRES

is Secretary -General of the United Nations

The Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of recent embarked on series of reforms that are targeted at guaranteeing a unification in the foreign exchange market between the bank rate and the rate obtained at the parallel market; and the restoration of credibility to monetary policy which is further attributable to the CBN’s actions.

Within the down stream sector (oil & gas), the FGN upon assumption of office on May 29th 2023 embarked on the issue of fuel subsidy removal, in addition to the deregulation of the down sector which saw Dangote refinery coming on board a few months ago to engage in the local production and refining of crude. This measure is coming barely 28 years that NNPC was able to refine crude oil locally here last in Nigeria. This deregulation measure according to the Federal Government is meant to address the issue of persistent scarcity of PMS that the country was plunged into over the years; curb the issue of landing costs associated with re-importing back into the country the earlier exported crude. Further more it will boost local supply of PMS across the nooks and crannies of the Nigeria, ease out frequent scarcity, and reduce the high demand in scouting for foreign exchange (forex). Additionally, it will put to an end the issue of round tripping (taking dollar out and not bringing in product in exchange).

However at the short run, the removal of fuel subsidy has brought about more pains and untold hardship than the possible gains on the masses and the teeming populace in general. As we are all aware that transport costs has tripled from what it used to be prior to the removal. Take for instance, the bus fare that costs #50 from Coker bridge to Adetola in Aguda Surulere axis of Lagos before the removal of the fuel subsidy now costs #200 for the same distance after the removal.

Incidentally the sky-rocketed transport fares has suddenly impacted negatively on the prices of food items and household commodities as some items have witnessed over 300% to 400% hike in price from what it used to be before the removal. Take for example, a sizeable tuber of yam that was priced at #1,500per tuber is now soaring within #5,000 to #6,000 for the same tuber size. Similarly, a bottle of fried groundnut that was initially priced at #800 per bottle is now being sold for #3,000 per bottle.

On the issue of tax reform which is meant to address a comprehensive restructuring of the policies, laws, and administrative procedures guiding how taxes are assessed, collected, and managed by the government. This measure is not merely about increasing government revenue; it is about making the tax system fairer, simpler, and more aligned with modern economic realities. If properly adopted, the reform in our tax jurisdiction will yield some potential benefit such as: Repeal outdated tax laws and enact modern, business-friendly alternatives, Consolidate multiple taxes into fewer, streamlined taxes; harmonise tax collection processes across federal, state, and local government levels; modernise tax administration to meet global standards cum expectations; it will further expand the tax base without necessarily increasing the tax burden; guarantee a predictable and favourable fiscal environment for investors to take hold of and encourage voluntary compliance and reduce opportunities for evasion or forms of tax fraud that has ravaged our system. More importantly, it will enhance

Nigeria’s attractiveness as a business destination for potential investors especially in the area of foreign direct investment (FDI) . Interesting, a nation’s economic strength lies in its ability to support and grow its business ecosystem. The business environment's reform will among other things address issues associated and connected with all the systems, norms, infrastructure, and regulations influencing business operations. Furthermore, its reform will focus more specifically on how easy it is for a business to start, operate, and expand within a given geographical boundary.

At the home front, an ideal business environment reform must focus essentially on six important angles, collectively known in the school of management as the PESTLE index: Political: A stable government that supports enterprise and small & medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

Economic: Predictable inflation, interest, and exchange rates within the economy; Sociocultural: Values, norms and ideologies that support entrepreneurship and small & medium scale enterprises (SMEs) within the economy.

Technological: Innovation-friendly policies that support large scale production; Legal: Fair and enforceable tax and business laws that promote industrialisation; Ecological: Commitment to sustainable environmental practices.

Benefits of Economic Reform system: A well implemented economic reform system will attract loads of benefits which include but not limited to: Facilitate Job creation cum employment generation; Support a simplified business regulation cum legislation; Guarantee an improved governance and accountability model; • Promote an increased domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) into the economy. Furthermore, these reforms if properly harnessed will bring about the following: an enhance fiscal transparency; promote prudent financial management; foster inclusive growth; stabilise macro-economic environment; improve debt sustainability; enhance the nation's access to international capital markets; reduce borrowing costs; Fast-track economic revitalisation; create jobs and above all reduce unemployment to the barest minimum.

A nation’s economic strength lies in its ability to support and grow its business ecosystem.

This holistic economic reform structure pinpoints our total commitment to transparency, financial discipline and prosperity for teeming populace.

It is therefore essential that we all key into ongoing reform initiatives. The gains, in terms of economic growth, employment generation, job creation, and national development, far outweigh any temporary discomfort or pain it may require especially at the long run.

Dr Ayozie FCTI, FCA,

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

PROLIFERATION OF DANGEROUS WEAPONS

The authorities must do more to seal the country’s porous borders

For years, we have repeatedly warned that violent crimes in Nigeria and neighbouring countries have ceased to be just social deviance but a thriving enterprise. Even more frightening is the calibre and quantum of lethal weapons in the hands of non-state actors and contestants of territorial control. In parts of the Northeast where Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operate, the arsenals in the hands of these lawless groups range from AK 47 to machine guns, rocket propelled grenades to rocket launchers. Perhaps more concerning is that recent attacks on military bases were done, using drones.

In series of attacks by Boko Haram/ISWAP members, the insurgents were reported to have deployed armed drones carrying locally made grenades that have killed and injured soldiers on the frontline, especially in Yobe State. But the greater danger is in the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the Lake Chad Basin. To put an end to the senseless and mindless violence that is widespread not only in the region but across the country, it is important to address this challenge.

Sources of these dangerous weapons range from trafficking across porous land borders to leakages in lax import procedures that have encouraged black market arms traffickers. Since transactional kidnapping has emerged in recent times as an unofficial sub-sector of the economy, especially in Nigeria, families and friends of victims are being tasked to come up with ransoms in billions of Naira. The fact that guns are available everywhere contributes to the menace.

The task of protecting the people remains that of the state. But it is a task that can only be performed in tandem with strengthening the security of citizens to make illegal possession of firearms unattractive and unnecessary

T H I S D AY

EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU

DEPUTY EDITOR WALE OLALEYE

MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO

DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU

CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI

EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

It is reassuring that the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Christopher Musa, has told Nigerians that the military is taking the battle to the terrorists with sophisticated weapons recently purchased. “What we are witnessing here is an eclipse caused by pressure on terrorists in the Sahel region, forcing them to increase attacks in Nigeria, especially around the porous borders of the Lake Chad Basin,” Musa said last week. “We are working diligently to address these challenges.” But given the overwhelming level of insecurity in the region, proliferation of SALW is a serious problem that must first be tackled.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA

GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU

DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE

DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI

SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI

CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI

DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

Letters to the Editor

Nigeria, according to most reports, accounts for at least 70 per cent of the illegal SALWs circulating within the West African sub-region most of them in the hands of sundry criminal cartels and lone wolves. It stands to reason that with access to abundant illegal weapons the rogue elements in our midst have become more fortified and hence less amenable to entreaties to make peace. Yet, as we have repeatedly pointed out, it was such easy access to SALWs by some unscrupulous elements that resulted in total breakdown of law and order in some of the failed states in Africa of which Somalia is a prime example. The task of protecting the people remains that of the state. But it is a task that can only be performed in tandem with strengthening the security of citizens to make illegal possession of firearms unattractive and unnecessary. Countries in the Lake Chad region must therefore proceed through a programme of illegal arms decommissioning and recovery plus the reinforcement of existing gun laws to penalise illegal possession of arms within their respective jurisdictions. It is not enough to be holding regular meetings to offer lamentations. There must be concrete actions to deal with the challenge of arms proliferation not only within the Lake Chad region but also in the country at large.

Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.

IS THIS THE END OF USSD BANKING?

For years, USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) banking in Nigeria has been a lifeline for millions of Nigerians. It was simple, fast, and accessible even on the most basic mobile phones. From transferring money to paying bills, and checking balances to buying airtime, USSD provided seamless access to banking without the need for internet access.

But now, a terse, polite message from banks may have sounded the death knell of the service. In what feels like a final move in a long-standing tussle between telecom service providers and banks, the new directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) mandates that going forward, USSD banking charges will be deducted directly from customers’ airtime, not their bank accounts.

The innocuous-looking message read in part “Dear Customer, from Tuesday, June 3, 2025, USSD banking charges will no longer be deducted from your bank account. Instead, the fees will be billed directly to your airtime in line with the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) directive. Each session will attract a charge of ₦6.98 per 120 seconds.”

Buried in this simple announcement is the latest twist in the long-drawn battle between telecom operators and banks over USSD service charges. This is a battle that has lasted for years,

involving regulators and resulting in service disruptions, legal threats, and regulatory interventions. Now, it seems banks are preparing to exit the USSD battlefield altogether.

The NCC directive effectively removes the banks from the fee-collection equation and places the burden squarely on the end-user. For many, this change marks more than a billing switch; it signals the slow phasing out of a channel that revolutionized financial inclusion in Nigeria.

There are, undeniably, a few upsides to this new structure. First, customers now receive prompts before airtime deductions are made, ensuring a more transparent process. Second, telcos finally receive payment for services rendered, which could encourage better service delivery and network investments. Finally, the new model simplifies the revenue flow i.e. banks no longer need to collect and remit fees on behalf of telcos. In short, the move creates regulatory clarity and administrative efficiency. However, the challenges are just as significant, if not more so. USSD banking emerged as a revolutionary tool for financial inclusion. It brought formal financial services to people without smartphones, data, and internet access. With just a basic phone and a GSM line, millions of Nigerians were able to check balances, transfer money, and buy airtime.

Now, each session comes at a direct cost, ₦6.98 per 120 seconds. For the average urban user, this may seem trivial. However, for rural dwellers, low-income earners, petty traders, and others at the economic margins, this is a heavy toll.

There’s also the psychological shift. A service that was once “free” or indirectly billed now requires upfront airtime, confirmation prompts, and network reliability. Add this to the banks’ not-so-subtle nudging of customers towards mobile apps and Internet banking, and the writing becomes clear: USSD banking is being slowly phased out.

You can’t blame the banks, it’s simple economics. USSD doesn’t allow for tailored digital engagement or targeted marketing. It lacks the analytical depth of app-based platforms. And now that they must rely on telcos to facilitate and collect the fees, it’s no longer strategically beneficial.

But here’s the catch: Nigeria is still a country with high levels of digital illiteracy, device poverty, and limited internet penetration. To phase out USSD without adequate replacement infrastructure or support systems would risk reversing the gains made in financial inclusion over the past decade.

Elvis Eromosele, elviseroms@gmail.com

Eno’s Defection: The Excitement, Anxiety and Expectations

Etim Etim writes about last Friday’s defection of Governor Umo Eno of akwa Ibom State from People’s Democratic Party to the all Progressives Congress and it’s implication on the state’s political permutations ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The defection of Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State from People’s Democratic Party to All Progressives Congress last Friday was not a surprise, after all. I first got wind of the plan last year, and since then, I have written two articles on it. The last, entitled ‘’2027: Will Gov. Eno defect to APC?’’ was published in March.

Eno has taken his time to consult, convince various interest groups and build a consensus among PDP members and political associates for many months before he finally took the decision to move.

He wanted to ensure that he moved with as many PDP members as possible. The discussions and persuasions paid off as the governor went into the APC with critical stakeholders: the two PDP senators; all members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly; all the 31 LGA chairpersons and all but one commissioner. Overall, hundreds of PDP stalwarts, some holding political positions and others who have held various senior political offices, also moved with the governor, creating an unparalleled political change whose impacts would be felt beyond the state.

But the Commissioner for Special Duties and Deep Sea Port, Ini Emeobong, refused to defect with the governor and thus resigned from the cabinet, citing ‘’personal conviction’’. Ememobong has served the government right from the administration of Godswill Akpabio as Special Assistant. He was one of Akpabio’s beloved aides who was promoted Commissioner by Governor Udom Emmanuel after he succeeded Akpabio in 2015.

But when Akpabio defected from PDP to APC in 2018, Ememobong became very hostile to Akpabio. Emmanuel deployed him to Ministry of Information from which he launched series of verbal assaults and insults against Akpabio. During the 2019 elections, Ememobong took matters in a very personal manner, moving from one media house to another to attack Akpabio in the

most visceral manner. His decision not to join the APC is therefore meant to save him from the possibility of having anything to do with Akpabio again. Lesson: political disagreement should not turn into personal enmity.

But there are more significant implications of Akwa Ibom governor’s movement. In terms of 2027, both the Senate President and the governor would be returned unopposed for second term. The PDP, hitherto the strongest political platform in the state, is now too enfeebled to offer any formidable electoral challenge to them. By joining the APC, Eno has also escaped the trap inherent in the intractable leadership crisis in his former party. The leadership tussle has the potential to cause legal problems for him in 2027. APC members are also excited at the change of their political fortunes and the expectations that Eno’s entry into the party would redress the deprivation they had suffered over the years. The party has been under the grip and control of Senator Akpabio since Bola Tinubu became President. He alone decided who got a political

appointment from the federal government, and the beneficiaries were mostly his close acolytes from his senatorial district.

Persons like Obong Umana Umana (former minister of Niger Delta Affairs); Atuekong Don Etiebet (former Minister of Petroleum); Obong Nsima Ekere(former Managing Director of NDDC) who joined the party long before Akpabio were all sidelined within the party. Other members who had political appointments under President Buhari were even denied reappointment by Tinubu because the Senate President had come up with his preferred nominees.

Eno is coming into a party that is made up of two camps: one being a small group of contented and favoured members led by Akpabio and the other, a larger segment, made up of discontented and dejected members, who felt sidelined by leadership style of the Senate President. The dejected ones are now excited that Eno would recognize and reward them for their sacrifice and contributions all these years.

‘’The coming of the governor into our party is good for the state and provides hope for a new beginning’’, said former minister Umana soon after the Eno’s defection. ‘’We as members will have to work with the governor and help him to bring reconciliation, harmony and cohesion to

Eno is coming into a party that is made up of two camps: one being a small group of contented and favoured members led by Akpabio and the other, a larger segment, made up of discontented and dejected members, who felt sidelined by leadership style of the Senate President. The dejected ones are now excited that Eno would recognize and reward them for their sacrifice and contributions all these years.

the party’’, he added. Umana himself had defected from PDP when he served as Secretary to the State Government under Akpabio to APC in November 2014 because he was denied the governorship nomination. His defection rally was a big event in Uyo attended by Bola Tinubu (then APC National Leader); Atiku Abubarkar (presidential aspirant); John Odigie-Oyegun (then APC National Chairman) and other top party henchmen. I joined the party that day too – my first, and so far, only membership of any political party. The core and bulk of members of APC in Akwa Ibom are those who joined with Umana in 2014, but they have been at the receiving end of Akpabio’s scorched earth policy.

Their main concern now is whether Akpabio will give the governor a free hand to lead and manage the enlarged APC with fairness and equity; or whether the Senate President would want to turn the governor into a stooge and corner all opportunities for himself and allies. That was the cause of his fight with Emmanuel which eventually led to his defection in 2018, and now people are wondering whether history will repeat itself. I raised this point with Umana. His response: ‘’They (Akpabio and Eno) had managed their relationship fairly well in the last two years. The governor has his own style, so I do not foresee any problem’’. Other APC members are also hopeful that Eno and Akpabio will work together this time. Elder Aniefiok Isatt, businessman, says: ‘’I think Akpabio has matured politically and he has learned his lessons too. The fact that he has an important job as Senate President in Abuja should keep him away from meddling into party politics in the state’’.

-Etim writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State (sixth left) with APC Governors and other party chieftains shortly after defecting from PDP to APC in Uyo... at the weekend.

Mokwa Flood: Why it Happened

Laleye Dipo writes on why the devastating Mokwa flood happened and the steps being taken to ameliorate the sufferings of the victims

Vice President Kashim Shettima addressing the Mokwa Community when he led FG Delegation to the town

It is no longer news that flood ravaged three communities of Tiffin Maza , Angwa Hausawa and Raba, in Mokwa town of Niger state on Wednesday May 28 2025.

Officially the flood has been attributed to 8 hours of heavy rainfall making the incident natural. However some elderly people in the town have disputed the claim with many of those spoken to believing that the incident had some spirituality attached to it.

They claimed that some of them have been living in the

It is no longer news that flood ravaged three communities—Tiffin Maza, Angwa Hausawa, and Raba—in Mokwa town of Niger State on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.

Officially, the flood has been attributed to eight hours of heavy rainfall, making the incident a natural occurrence. However, some elderly people in the town have disputed the claim, with many of those spoken to believing that the incident had some spirituality attached to it.

They claimed that some of them have been living in the affected areas for over 50 years without such a disaster occurring, despite heavier rains pounding the area during that period.

“We have been living in this area for about 50 years. There have been more heavy rains than this, yet nothing like this has ever happened,” one of the elderly people said.

Another, corroborating the submission, rhetorically asked, “Can you show me where this type of water came from?”

A younger person believes that the floodwater came from Mashegu Local Government, which is adjacent to Mokwa and has many rivers, including the River Niger at Kainji.

The Chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Alhaji Mohammed Jibrin Muregi, blamed the magnitude of the flood on congestion in the affected communities.

No matter what caused the flood, the disaster that accompanied it was of unimaginable proportion. Human lives, infrastructure, and animals were lost. It is difficult to believe that houses, bridges, trees, etc., ever existed in the affected communities. Even war-ravaged areas often leave more behind than the situation in which these communities now find themselves. In some instances, only the roofs of buildings could be seen covering the ground; in other cases, both roofs and blocks were washed away.

Where the flood carried more than fifty houses to is still unknown.

Though there are conflicting figures about

the number of lives lost, the statistics by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) remain the authentic figures, as the officials of the organisation have been on the ground since the incident occurred.

At first, NSEMA announced 21 people dead, but the figure increased by the day as search and rescue operations continued.

The figure of 161 casualties as of Thursday last week is, however, what the state government is relying on, which led it to advise against the “spreading of unverified or misleading information.”

However, nobody—not even the government agencies in charge of the search and rescue operations—has provided statistics on the number of cattle, sheep, goats, and other animals lost to this catastrophe. A total of 3,018 people are also displaced, with 11 people still missing, according to figures released by NSEMA.

NSEMA also said most of those who lost their lives were children, some of whom were buried under the debris of collapsed buildings.

Abdullahi Baba Arah, the Director General of NSEMA, said, “We have to dig through debris to bring out some corpses; some bodies were hooked between trees.”

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, in a statement urged the people “to remain calm and prayerful in this moment of collective grief,” adding that people should avoid spreading “unverified or misleading information that may further deepen sorrow, incite panic, or cause unnecessary confusion within our communities.”

Among those who lost their lives were 12 family members who were washed away in their sleep. Also, an Islamic teacher in the area reportedly, but unusually, directed all his almajiris to return home on Tuesday night and go to bed—only for all the children, whose number is not

known, to be flooded. Many of their corpses are yet to be found.

Reactions to the sad incident were swift, with the NSEMA and NEMA officials among the first set of government agencies to land in Mokwa to render assistance to the victims. Local divers from Mashegu and Jebba also came in to help with the search and rescue operations.

For the first two days, motorists had a Herculean task traversing between Mokwa and other parts of the country.

Mokwa is the main artery that connects all north-western states—in fact, the northern states—since the construction of the Suleja–Lokoja road has not been completed.

The attention given to the disaster did not escape the Federal Government, which, through Vice President Kashim Shettima, lauded those who showed solidarity, describing them as “their brothers’ keepers.”

The Mokwa Local Government hurriedly set up an emergency Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, where the Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Mohammed Jibrin Muregi, claimed 5,000 displaced people were being cared for.

Muregi, who described the incident as “saddening, heartbreaking and pathetic, especially with the resultant loss of many lives and property,” said the council had purchased essential drugs, food items, mats, and mosquito nets for distribution to the displaced people.

The state government has opened a special bank account into which all donations for the displaced people and the rebuilding of the destroyed communities should be deposited.

The State Deputy Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, warned against fraudsters taking advantage of the present situation to exploit already suffering people.

“While the State Government is appealing for corporate, individual and non-governmental organisation support,

The people of Mokwa are expectant that all the promises made by governments and individuals will be fulfilled to bring a little succour to them…The displaced people—and indeed the entire Mokwa town—should not be left to their fate after the cacophony has died down

on no condition should such assistance be channelled through privately owned accounts,” Garba declared, adding that those willing to contribute towards bringing succour to the flood disaster victims should contact the relevant state agencies for proper guidance.

“As a state, we have opened a dedicated account for this disaster; every support should be channelled to it.”

Assistance in cash and kind has continued to pour in for the victims, with the Federal Government doling out ₦2 billion for the reconstruction of the damaged communities, in addition to releasing 20 trucks of food items.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced the donations on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also said the drainages in the town would be reconstructed, while an electricity transformer would be delivered to replace the damaged one.

Niger State Governor’s wife, Hajia Fatima Bago, on behalf of herself and her children, donated ₦50 million to the fund. So did Niger East Senator, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Musa. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, gave ₦20 million, while the Senator representing the area (Niger South), Senator Peter Nda Alikali, donated ₦2 million. A leading commercial bank in the country, Fidelity Bank, donated 1,000 5kg bags of rice.

The disaster took the shine off the celebration of this year’s Eid el-Kabir festival, as the government directed that the festival should be held in a low-key manner in memory of those who lost their lives and those injured.

As a result, there was no funfair or durbar that usually accompanies the festival.

What Next?

The people of Mokwa are expectant that all the promises made by governments and individuals will be fulfilled to bring a little succour to them.

Chairman of the council, Alhaji Muregi, has to implement his plan to review the master plan of the town to avoid congestion when reconstruction begins.

The displaced people, however, are still waiting to be touched by both the state and federal governments.

As Vice President Kashim Shettima said, the responsibility is a tripartite one: the Federal Government will play its part, the State Government should play its part, while the Local Government too has a role to play.

The displaced people—and indeed the entire Mokwa town—should not be left to their fate after the cacophony has died down.

The destruction left in the wake of the flood

DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS

with Nicky Okoye ( digitalassets@anabelgroup.com )

National Assets, National Wealth and National Development

Nicky Okoye discusses the strategic impact of digital asset markets in the growth and dynamics of the global markets and dives deep into the monumental forces that are driving the growth of the next hundred trillion dollars in global GDP. In this series of essays, policy makers, legislators, enterprise executives and investors can gain strategic positioning variables as they unfold in real time.

“In my opinion, the true measure of the wealth of any Nation, must include that Nation’s net-worth which is based on the Nation’s total assets, and it should not necessarily be completely based on the National population’s economic activity alone (buying and selling, spending) GDP. In this respect, a total understanding and a comprehensive value of all the assets belonging to any Nation State, should form part of the Nation’s net-worth, and subsequently be used to determine the total wealth of that Nation. This is currently not the case.” – Nicky Okoye

Imade this statement in my second paper in the series titled “Next One Hundred Trillion Dollars Value chains” , in this paper I would like to clarify what I meant, before I dive into other pertinent areas of this Digital Asset Markets 21st century series. Only recently, I read a statement credited to Akinwumi Adesina, the outgoing President of the African Development Bank, in which he stated that Nigeria’s GDP per capita is currently so low, it was fallen back down the 1960s GDP per capita figures. At first I started wondering if he was misquoted. Or perhaps he is setting the stage for a run at political office in Nigeria? Who knows. Whatever be the case, he is a very respectable international development banker, so he must know that judging Nigeria’s overall capacity by nominal GDP per capita would be very misleading indeed. There are several reasons why I say so: 1. Nigeria’s nominal GDP is not a true reflection of the purchasing power of the Nigerian people. Those who depend on nominal GDP, are either uninformed or they know and are pretending that they do not know, the fact that millions of Nigerians that live across Nigeria’s vast heartland, across Nigeria do not need to convert their purchasing power in naira into US dollars in order to spend it. In addition, the productivity of a majority of the Nigerian people are not paid neither is it valued in US dollars. In this respect, the cost of living when I am in Ifite-Dunu, Dunukofia LGA, Anambra State, which is my home town, cannot be equated to my cost of living when I am in New York City. However as ridiculous as this sounds, nominal GDP calculations are equating the cost of living in New York, Paris or London, with the cost of living in Ifite-Dunu, Dunukofia LGA, Anambra State. Whenever I go home I can live (feeding only) comfortably off thirty five thousand naira, for one entire week, which is the equivalent of twenty two US dollars, (N35,000.00 is $22.00). My country home is fully paid off, so I have no mortgages. The family farm produces all kinds of food crops from which I can take my pick. The generous village folks are always bring the new yams from time to time and they do not charge me. I have uninterrupted access to water, and my power needs are fully dependent on EEDC whenever they remember us, which is more often than not. If I can live off twenty two dollars a week, in Ifite-Dunu, please tell me why my living expenses are being equated to similar living expenses in the City of New York? This is what nominal GDP calculations are doing, and no African economists have raised this alarm. To be honest most reports I have read, that have made attempts to define and calculate the wealth of Africa’s many nations and communities are simply very wrong and misleading.

2. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a much more accurate basis for calculating GDP of a Nation State. As this formula takes into account the cost of living in the local environment and then produces an average for the entire Nation State. As most rural populations across Nigeria’s heartlands, will most likely live as I do when I am in Ifite-Dunu, then it is safe to say that our low cost of living should be taken into account. Using PPP - GDP calculations may not provide you with the exact position of the national wealth of a Nation, but it does define a much more accurate picture of the purchasing power of the people in relation to their realistic environmental costs. In other words, PPP is a much more accurate standard to be used when defining a market penetration strategy for a new product or a new service entry to a particular Nation State. It is more practical. I always use PPP when advising clients on market penetration for any Nation State. It is more accurate and since you are going to be depending on the

L-R: Chairman Sentate Standing Committee on Capital Markets, Distinquested Senatro Osita Izunaso, with Global Investment Advisor and founder Global InvestmentAdvisorycommunity,DrNickyOkoye,HonCommissionerofFinanceLagosState,MrYomiOluyomi,attherecentlyheldDigitalAssetMarketsstrategy session and masterclass series held at SEC

purchasing power of the local population, it is a better standard for measurement.

3. The Value of National Assets is almost totally ignored when calculating the wealth of a Nation State. I will address this much more when I address the five pillars of Understanding the Next One Hundred Trillion Dollars. Sometimes I wonder what would be the value of Nigeria’s total asset portfolio? In this case we are talking our total assets for all Nigerians and not necessarily just the Federal Government, after all when calculating GDP, economists do not focus exclusively on Government spending. In order to get a more accurate calculation of Nigeria’s total asset portfolio, you will have to include all Nigeria’s real estate assets, all lands, including farm lands, all industrial estates, all mineral resources, all oil and gas resources, including proven reserves, music files, intellectual property, services capacity, etc. Nigeria’s total asset position will be monumental. So why is this figure totally ignored by global economists? And then somehow these same economists agree amongst themselves that Nigeria and most of Africa is made up of poor Nation States. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, in my opinion, we as Nigerians and Africans are willing tools in our own subjugation. This is the 21st century for crying out load. By now we should have made the necessary demands for evaluating our own National capacities and our Nation’s capabilities ourselves and demand that we be heard and our own figures be accommodated. It is my hope that this process can start now. It is better we are late than never at all.

4. Collateralization for loans and lending has always been based on assets, and in some cases verified cash flows. In any event, the verified revenues or cash flows can be used to pay off the debt, whereas the collateral is always held in escrow as a hedge in case of default. This collateralised hedging is almost always used to secure loans and debt facilities, at the individual level, at the enterprise level and even at the nation state or sub-national level. In many cases when Nation States borrow, international finance institutions would normally use tax revenue ratios in relation to GDP. These institutions also use VAT (Value Added Tax) collectibles, custom duties and royalites or revenues from sales of crude oil, natural gas or mineral resources. In this respect, these institutions can tell how much the particular National government in question can afford to repay its debts over a given period of time. If we discount the illegal activities of unscrupulous government officials, a strong asset base can extend the ability of a Nation State to borrow and invest further in development of

infrastructure and the creation of new jobs. This would mean that a strategic method of valuing assets and using these assets as collateral in project tied funding mechanisms can be used to unlock monumental value for African Nation states. This is what our Digital Asset Markets Strategy is all about, however we advise that we all move slowly as we do not want this approach to be abused. As we implement a Digital Asset Markets Strategy for Nigeria and subsequently Africa, we can reposition Nigeria and Africa over the next ten years as the basket of global productivity, monumental wealth and exceptional real value. When you relate this approach with large expanding productive youth population, then Nigeria and Africa will become unstoppable in the 21st century and beyond.

The Five Pillars for Understanding the Next One Hundred Trillion Dollars

As I mentioned in the previous article “Next One Hundred Trillion Dollars Value Chains”, there are five pillars that I advise my reader to take note of when trying to fully understand the Next One Hundred Trillion Dollars and the Digital Asset Markets Strategy. I make bold to say that these pillars will need to be fully understood by all nation builders, legislators, policy makers, enterprise executives and entrepreneurs, if we are to design and develop a pathway for sustainable National Development. I will relist the five pillars here and then I will go into deep analysis of each pillar in the future DAM-N1HTD series.

1. Global Population Growth: The growth patterns of the World’s geographical populations are instructive and are leading indicators of the next geographical areas that will experience explosive economic growth. Positioning for these growth patterns as it relates to purchasing power, consumer trends and market dynamics will be significant in the coming years. I will go into details in my next article in this series.

2. Digital Asset Markets Strategy:

The Digital Asset Markets, and developing a Digital Asset Markets Strategy for National Development, Sub-National Development, Enterprise Development and Community Development will define the next twenty five years like never before. Valuations of assets, valuations of nation states and even enterprise balance sheets will all have to be reappraised within this new digital asset framework. I will expand on this in future articles in this series.

3. China Strategy: The Case for China, and the need to position national development strategies in line with China’s growth trajectory will

become paramount. In much the same way the Chinese sent hundreds of thousands of its people to study in the west, and these newly minted intellectuals came home to China to reposition China, we as Africans must prepare to send our next generation of engineers to China for similar educational exchanges and deep study of the China model for innovation and development. A China Strategy is fundamental and I will take this out as a separate topic for future articles in this series.

4. Africa Content Strategy: The Case for Africa, and the repositioning of Africa’s greatest assets which include Africa’s human resource capacity must be integrated into all National development plans. In addition, Africa’s digital asset classes and future digital asset markets will need to take the centre stage in filling the funding gap for Africa’s development. More on this in future series.

5. Technology and Innovation: Access to 21st century technologies, will define the winners and losers in the struggle that Leaders will have to undertake to position their Nation States to benefit from the value which will be created from the Next Hundred trillion Dollars in global GDP. Some of us will focus on designing and developing new technologies through innovation as China is currently doing, whereas other Nation States will focus on positioning their engineers to study under the best in the World to gain valuable insight and knowledge as again, China has done in the past. Technology has always made the difference, whether it is on the battle field as French Dictator, Napoleon could not defeat the slave armies of Haiti because the technologies on both sides were almost at par. Which resulted in Haiti’s independence in 1804 after the slave army of Haiti defeated the mighty Napoleon of France, in his prime for that matter. Or in the conquest of Africa, where European Colonisers used very small and insignificant numbers of armed troops to defeat and overwhelm Africa’s tribal forces due mostly to the invention of the “Maxine Gun”, a machine gun that could kill thousands of African warriors who only had spears, bows and arrows to fight back.

Once we have fully understood the five pillars of Next One Hundred Trillion Dollars, I will then take my readers into the new World of the Digital Asset markets, and how Nation States, Sub-Nationals and Enterprises will all have to redesign their growth, market penetration and sustainability strategies to accommodate a Digital Asset Markets Strategy.

•Nicky Okoye Global Investment Advisor

NIGERIA.

Business Special

High Expectations as World Leaders Set for US/Africa Business Summit in Angola

From June 22 to 25, 2025, the corporate council on africa, the leading United States business association focused solely on connecting business interests in africa will meet in luanda, angola, to engage world leaders and business owners on how to strengthen commercial relations between the US and africa. Raheem Akingbolu writes on the theme of the summit and how it will boost africa’s economy

With the theme, “Pathways to Prosperity: A Shared Vision for United State-Africa Partnership,” the 17th United States(US)/Africa Business Summit in 2025 in the city of Luanda, Angola, is designed to open a new path for Africa development. Among other things, the summit will look at the possibility of fostering a climate conducive to investment and trade; promoting business and investment opportunities in Africa and providing a platform for US and African businesses to explore new opportunities.

According to a statement issued by the media office of Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), this year’s summit will bring together more than 1,500 delegates, including African presidents, heads of government and ministers, senior US Government officials and leaders from US and African companies. The statement further stated that the 2025 summit sessions will cover the full range of opportunities to expand US/Africa trade, investment, and business relations.

The US/Africa Business Summit in Angola marks the first opportunity for the new US and African leadership to engage in dialogue and is expected to foster transformative partnerships across the continent.

With US trade policy redefining US economic engagement with African nations in key value chains, the summit is expected to provide a highlevel engagement, deal-making opportunities, and strategic dialogue between US and African government and private sector leaders. The summit, which will be hosted by the CCA in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Angola, will give African Heads of State and Ministers, senior US government officials, US and African CEOs, investors, and thought leaders from across Africa and the US opportunities to rub minds on areas of collaboration to deepen bilateral relationships.

In an exclusive interview with THISDAY, the Chairman of the CCA, John Olajide, a renowned entrepreneur, investor, and civic leader, while urging Africa investors to key into the opportunities provided by the summit, said its theme reflects the shared commitment to building inclusive, long-term partnerships rooted in mutual benefit for both U.S. and African businesses and workers.

“The summit will centre on priority sectors such as infrastructure, energy, healthcare, digital transformation, agribusiness, creative industries, and sustainable finance,” he stated.

Olajide, a Nigerian based in Dallas, US is the Founder and CEO of Axxess, a leading healthcare technology company, and Chairman of Cavista Holdings Limited, a diversified holding and investment company with interests in technology, agriculture, hospitality, fintech, energy, and other sectors. With two weeks to go, the chairman disclosed that a distinguished roster of confirmed African Heads of State, Heads of Government, and Ministers would be addressing the summit.

He said: “I’m passionate about the summit because of its pedigree and ability to lift African nations. In particular, the list of leaders from the continent who have indicated their intention to participate in the summit gave me the assurance that Africa is ready to explore, invest, and develop. The presence of these leaders reinforces the strategic importance of the US-Africa commercial relationship and the commitment of African nations to creating enabling environments for business and investment.”

According to him, these prominent African leaders will share national strategies, policy updates, and visions for deeper economic partnerships with the U.S. at the summit. He also pointed out that each of the leaders will participate in targeted bilateral meetings with investors and multinational executives to explore concrete investment opportunities. He also added that ministerial

The sector-specific tracks would deep dives into energy transition, manufacturing, ICT and innovation, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and creative economies, while the special focus on women and youth in business will feature sessions that would be dedicated to inclusive growth, women-led enterprises, and the role of Africa’s dynamic youth.

participation would enhance technical-level engagement and policy discussions, thereby ensuring a comprehensive exploration of investment climates, regulatory reforms, and public-private collaboration models across the continent.

Established in 1993, the CCA is a leading US business association focused on connecting business interests in Africa. CCA has been pivotal in promoting business and investment between the US and Africa, serving as a trusted intermediary for over three decades.

Over the years, CCA has been involved in providing innovative inputs to African corporate development in various ways.

In the area of the Agribusiness initiative, the body’s agribusiness initiative aimed at promoting investment and trade in the agricultural sector. There are also sectorfocused working groups, through which CCA hosts working groups with a focus on various sectors, including infrastructure, energy, health, and ICT, providing insights and solutions for businesses operating in Africa. Another key intervention is that CCA organises country and sector-specific trade missions, which enables members to meet and network with senior government officials and local business leaders. Closely related to this is that the body also periodically facilitates business-to-business meetings and networking opportunities, fostering partnerships and uncovering new investment avenues.

As a platform for action-oriented engagement, since its inception, the US/Africa Business Summit has served

as a vital platform for advancing US/Africa commercial partnerships. This year’s gathering marks the 17th edition of the summit and the first major opportunity for new leadership in the US and Africa to meet to discuss the US/Africa economic partnership. Angola is the new Chair of the African Union and senior officials of the new US administration from key agencies such as the Departments of State, Commerce and Energy, as well as the US Development Finance Corporation and US Export-Import Bank will participate in the summit.

Angola’s leadership in hosting the event will also highlight Africa’s regional integration and economic transformation, particularly through initiatives such as the Lobito Corridor, a key logistics and transport route expected to bolster trade across Southern and Central Africa.

The summit will feature over 30 plenary sessions, breakout sessions, and deal rooms, offering opportunities for real-time business matchmaking, investor roundtables, and indepth sectoral dialogues.

Meanwhile, the media office has further alluded to the fact that past summits have facilitated multi-million-dollar deals, catalysed new joint ventures, and introduced innovative financing instruments supporting the US ventures in African markets. Specifically, it was mentioned that in 2025, the stakes are higher as countries and companies navigate shifting trade dynamics.

On what to expect and key programme highlights, the organisers stated that there would be Presidential and Ministerial dialogues which will involve a high-level sessions with confirmed Heads of State and Ministers on major sectors and issues such as critical minerals, health, energy and agribusiness. It was also stated that there would be insights from the top US officials on trade policy, development finance, and strategic partnerships with Africa. In the interest of the private sector, there would be private sector-led panels that would feature the US and African CEOs sharing experiences, challenges, and opportunities for growth in African markets.

Also specially fashioned out to help business owners in Africa and US, is what is termed ‘Deal Rooms and B2B Matchmaking that would curate one-on-one meetings to connect African and American businesses, investors, and government leaders.

Finally, the sector-specific tracks would deep dives into energy transition, manufacturing, ICT and innovation, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and creative economies, while the special focus on women and youth in business will feature sessions that would be dedicated to inclusive growth, women-led enterprises, and the role of Africa’s dynamic youth.

The registration for the summit, which is open to US and African business leaders, investors, policymakers, development partners, and representatives from multilateral institutions are already ongoing and will be on until June 16.

To this end, a call has been made to US companies looking to enter or expand across African markets, and for African businesses eager to engage US capital and technology, to beverage the summit, which offers a rare, concentrated opportunity to do so—under one roof, over four days, in one of Africa’s most promising commercial capitals.

As global supply chains recalibrate and the world seeks sustainable and inclusive economic growth, Africa’s role as a partner—not just a destination—for investment - and innovation is increasingly vital. Hence, the US/Africa Business Summit is indeed where that future is forged.

Olajide

Kayode Tokede

Following investors’ demand for banks shares driven by the ongoing banking sector recapitalisation exercise directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and first quarter financial performance, the market capitlisation of Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc (GTCO), Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and seven other banks reached N11.07 trillion at the end of May 2025.

The N11.07 trillion represents 15.7 per cent of the N70.463 trillion overall equities market capitalisation during the period under review.

The other seven banks are: Access Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank

Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, FCMB Group Plc, First Holdco Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI).

Analysis of trading numbers showed that GTCO, followed by Zenith Bank and UBA are the most capitlised listed banks on NGX, contributing about N5.72 trillion or 51.68 per cent of the N11.07 trillion total banking sector capitalisation in the first five months of 2025.

Further breakdown revealed that while GTCOo’s market capitlisation stood at N2.29 trillion as of May 30, 2025, Zenith Bank’s market capitlisation closed at N2.01 trillion. UBA’s market capitalisation stood at N1.42 trillion with a stock price of N34.70 per share as of May 30, 2025.

In addition, First Holdco and Access Holdings saw their market capitlisation at N1.05 trillion and N1.17 trillion, respepctively as of May 30, 2025.

On the back of investors’ demand for bank stocks, the NGX Banking Index appreciated by 7.29 per cent from 1,084.52 basis points to 1,163.59 basis points to remain as one of the best-performing indicators on the exchange.

Capital market analysts have attributed the 7.29 per cent growth in the NGX Banking Index to the ongoing recapitalisation exercise directed by the CBN, maintaining that dividend payout for the 2024 financial year and the impressive first quarter ended March 31, 2025, also played a critical role.

For late filing of 2024 financial year results, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) will soon impose sanctions on Jaiz Bank Plc and 12 other listed companies on the bourse.

Other are: Unity Bank Plc, Smart Products Nigeria Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, Prestige Assurance Plc, Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, and Royal Exchange Plc.

Others are: Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Notore Chemical Industries Plc, C & I Leasing Plc, Conoil Plc, and International Energy Insurance Plc. NGX RegCo, the independent

regulating subsidiary of Nigerian Exchange Group said it has identified the above companies that fell short of the minimum listing standards in terms of timely disclosure of their audited annual financial statements and therefore have Missed Regulatory Fillings (MRF) or are Awaiting Regulatory Approval (AWR) Compliance Status Indicator (CSI) imputed beside the names of the companies. According to NGX RegCo, “The sanctions for non-compliance with periodic financial disclosure obligations are clearly spelt out in the Rules for fFiling of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of NGX.”

when their 2024FY will be released to the investing public but have not complied.

For instance, Jaiz Bank board of directors had met on March 14, 2025 to consider the 2024 audited financial statement, according to the document posted on NGX, without mentioning dividend payable to shareholders.

But, the non-interest bank has failed to submit 2024 and first quarter earnings to the investing public as of June 05, 2025.

The bank audited financial statement for 2024 is overdue for filing on the Exchange, significant possible sanction for failing to meet regulatory demand for listed stocks.

Jaiz Bank, among others had officially written to the Exchange

Excluding Islamic Development, Jaiz Bank has six influential

Cumulatively, the 10 banks shares appreciated by N712.09 billion in the first five months of 2025. However, out of the 10 banks, First Holdco and Access Holdings, recorded a decline of N226.4 billion in market value during the period under review. This decline was reflected in their share prices between December 31, 2024 and May 30, 2025.

While Access Holdings stock underwent a price adjustment to account for dividend payments for the 2024 financial year, First Holdlco stock price dropped as investors were rattled its first quarter 2025 results that showed a significant decline in profit before tax, down by over 20.4 per cent to N186.5 billion from the N234.17billion posted in Q1 2024. First Holdco’s market value

shareholders with combined interest climbed to 74.82per cent in December 2024 following an additional capital injection, up from 65.15per cent in 2023.

In total, the bank has seven major shareholders with 80.44 per cent combined stake in 2024, which is a significant increase in 12 months when compared with 56.09 per cent holdings recorded in 2023.

declined by N127.7 billion in the first five months of 2025 amid a 10.87 per cent or N3.05 drop in its stock price to close May 30, 2025, at N25.00 per share from N28.05 per share it opened for trading this year.

Also, Access Holdco stock price dropped by 7.76 per cent or N1.85 per share to close May 2025 at N22.00 per share from the N23.85 per share it opened for trading this year, leading to N98.64 billion drop in its market value.

On the flip side, GTCO gained N341.4billion in market value as its stock price went up 17.5 per cent or N10.00 per share from N57.00 per share 2024 end to close May 2025 at N67.00 per share.

Despite reporting a 41-per cent drop in profit before tax to N300.4

earnings will reach N28.392 billion..

So far, the likes of Conoil, and Sterling Financial Holdings Company have released unaudited result and accounts for the full year ended December 31, 2024 to the investing public.

Sterling Financial Holdings Company had communicated to the public and the NGX regarding the delayed filing of its audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.

billion in Q1 2025, the stock price of GTCO crossed the N70.00 per share, a 52-week high on the NGX, becoming the first financial institution to achieve such a milestone on the bourse.

The market capitalisation of GTCO currently at N2.39 trillion, is ahead of Zenith Bank with N2.08 trillion as of June 5, 2025. Further analysis by THISDAY showed that the market value of ETI went up by N65.14 billion; FCMB Group, N23.76 billion; Stanbic IBTC Holdings, N150.3 billion; Zenith Bank, N143.7billion; Fidelity Bank, N95.4billion; Wema Bank, N90.01 billion and UBA, N28.73 billion.

board meeting scheduled for 26th February 2025, during which the board would review the Audited Financial Statements for the specified period. The board stated, “The migration to the new system has impacted the timing of the finalization of our 2024 Audited Financial Statements. Consequently, our auditors will require additional time to complete the audit process.

“To this end, the Company will publish its 2024 AFS and Unaudited Financial Statements for the period ended 31st March 2025 on or before 28th June 2025, upon receipt of the requisite approvals.” RATES AS AT Jun E 6,2025

For most part of the year, the Islamic bank share price has traded range bound, reflecting its shareholding structure and earnings track record amidst midst regulatory filing. Jaiz Bank forecasted to deliver N8.078 billion as net profit in the second quarter of 2025 with expectation its gross

According to the disclosure signed by the company’s Executive Director, Olayinka Oni, the delay stems from a transition in the core banking application utilised by its subsidiary, Sterling Bank.

In mid-December 2024, the group announced a forthcoming

Kayode Tokede

Ecobank Explores $100bn Global Fashion

Ecobank Nigeria said it aimed to explore the $100 billion global fashion industry by exposing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), especially Adire makers in Nigeria to the market.

Speaking to journalists at the ongoing fourth edition of the bank’s yearly Ecobank Adire Lagos exhibition, Head of Small and Medium Enterprises at Ecobank Nigeria, Omoboye Odu, expressed that the financial institution was intentionally positioned as a

Cross River to Train 100 Aviation Professionals

Chinedu Eze

Cross River State government has concluded plans to train about 100 of its indigenes as aviation professionals at the Lagos Aviation Academy (LAA) ahead of its unveiling of additional aircraft to its airline, CallyAir.

The State Commissioner for Aviation, Capt. Imah Eno Utum disclosed this when he made a notable visit to Lagos Aviation Academy recently as the institution marked eight years of academic excellence in Nigeria’s aviation industry.

The Commissioner, who toured the facility and discussed workforce development challenges facing the industry indicated a strong interest in partnering with LAA for this initiative.

“Institutions like LAA are not just responding to the industry’s needs, they are shaping its future,” the Commissioner told journalists. “As we look to grow aviation across Nigeria, the importance of skilled talent and industry-aligned training like what LAA offers cannot be overstated,” the Commissioner said.

“When we say we’re building

professionals, we mean individuals equipped to meet global aviation standards,’’ explained Bolaji Durojaiye, Head of School at Lagos Aviation Academy. We’ve built a system that fuses technical expertise with real-world readiness. That’s how we stay relevant,” he added.

The Academy’s Lagos facility features smart classrooms and simulation tools, with curriculum designed to meet international benchmarks. This infrastructure supports LAA’s role in supplying certified professionals to various segments of Nigeria’s aviation value chain, from airlines and airports to tour operators and logistics providers.

As Nigeria’s aviation sector continues expanding, training institutions like LAA face increasing demand to produce qualified personnel capable of meeting both domestic needs and international standards. With more students from Nigeria and across West Africa seeking globally competitive aviation training, the academy’s eight-year track record positions it as both a beacon of excellence and a trusted launchpad for aviation careers across the region.

Bitget Hosts Blockchain Education Day in Lagos

Bitget, said it has concluded its Nigeria Community Education Day in Lagos as part of its Blockchain4Youth initiative.

The offline event, welcomed over 80 participants and focused on equipping young Nigerians with practical knowledge of blockchain and crypto trading tools.

The leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company in a statement noted that the event opened with a keynote on the current landscape of crypto adoption in Nigeria and the role youth can play in shaping its future. Participants explored different on and off-ramp channels for deposits and withdrawals, including card payments, and P2P options, along with an introduction to Bitget’s merchant program.

According to the statement, the session also included live demonstrations of Bitget’s core

products, including spot and futures trading, copy trading, and conversion features, emphasizing practical learning. Interactive questions and answers sessions with giveaways encouraged attendees to engage directly with the platform and its tools.

The event featured testimonials from existing users in the Lagos community, shared how Bitget has helped them navigate and benefit from the digital asset space. Informal networking and refreshments followed allowing participants the chance to exchange insights and strengthen local blockchain ties.

“This educational event forms part of Bitget’s broader strategy to drive crypto adoption across underserved regions. By focusing on grassroots engagement and technical education, Bitget aims to create new pathways for youth and underrepresented communities to access wealth-building opportunities in the digital,” the statement added.

solutions provider for SMEs.

She noted that the global fashion industry is valued at over $100 billion, with Africa contributing more than $30 billion to that figure. Nigeria, she added, must seize the opportunity to become a key player in this space.

She said, “With development finance institutions, such as the World Bank and the IFC, already offering funding facilities to support fashion industries across Africa, there is no reason Nigeria should

be left out.

Industry with Adire Exhibition

“We want Nigerian entrepreneurs and creatives to be among the top 25 leading voices in African fashion. That’s why Ecobank is creating accessible platforms at no cost to showcase their work to the world.”

According to her, the event was designed to spotlight indigenous textile craftsmanship, particularly Adire fabric, serve as both a cultural celebration and a business growth opportunity, offering local artisans,

designers, and textile producers a unique space to gain visibility, make sales, and connect with wider markets, locally and internationally.

She expressed delight at the strong turnout, stating, “This year’s exhibition promises a dynamic blend of established brands and emerging designers who embody innovation, cultural pride, and export potential.”

She further emphasised the fair’s role as a major Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by

Ecobank.

Reflecting on past editions, Odu, said “The Adire Lagos Exhibition Fair is a key CSR initiative, offering SMEs a platform to showcase their products free of charge while fostering economic growth and national unity. Last year’s event attracted over 20,000 visitors in four days, with one vendor making N30 million in sales—equivalent to six months’ revenue—demonstrating the fair’s strong commercial potential.”

Stakeholders Harp on More Financial Inclusion Strategies for Women

Emma Okonji

Stakeholders who gathered at the recently held Regtech Conference 2025, have stressed the need for Nigeria to leverage digital infrastructure in accelerating financial inclusion for women, especially through a multistakeholder approach involving governments, fintechs, telecoms, regulators and even the customers.

The event featured a panel

discussion moderated by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF) Limited, Uche Uzoebo.

The panel discussion themed: ‘From Borders to Bridges: Leveraging Digital Infrastructure to Drive Financial Inclusion through a Multi-Stakeholder Approach’, brought together diverse voices across banking, fintech, policy, and government to explore how digital infrastructure

can be annexed to drive financial inclusion.

Uzoebo highlighted how women often face unique challenges in accessing financial services coupled with limited digital literacy and cultural barriers.

Head of Agency Banking, Ecobank Group, Jacqueline Mpare, highlighted how her organisation had established a women-focused initiative to provide support to businesses targeted at women and those with women as part of the leadership by providing them with access to finance and non-financial support. Regional Advisor, Africa, Corum Group Limited, Isa Aliyushata, stressed the need to inculcate financial literacy into the education curriculum to ensure everyone is exposed to the knowledge of financial literacy from a young age.

Solar Import Ban: Expert Calls for Balanced Policies to Ensure Energy Access

As Nigeria moves to boost local solar manufacturing with a recent ban on imports, energy experts warn that without careful implementation, the policy could leave millions without reliable electricity.

Speaking at a high-level energy forum hosted by Earthplus Africa, Founder of The Energy Intelligence, Ayobami Adedinni stressed that while domestic production

is crucial, Nigeria must adopt a nuanced approach to ensure solar power remains accessible to low-income households and rural communities who need it most.

The Federal government’s restriction on solar panel imports aims to stimulate local industry and reduce reliance on foreign goods.

Adedinni, however, cautioned that without parallel measures to strengthen domestic capacity, the

policy could inadvertently widen Nigeria’s energy access gap.

He also highlighted the importance of financial mechanisms to keep solar affordable, such as targeted subsidies for low-income households and flexible payment models like pay-as-you-go systems.

Public- private partnerships, he argued, will be essential to accelerate off-grid solutions, leveraging existing frameworks like the Rural Electrification Agency to deploy mini-grids in underserved regions.

Beyond immediate fixes, he called for a robust monitoring system to assess the ban’s impact on energy access, urging policymakers to remain agile. “This isn’t just about protecting local industry. We need policies that are both economically sound and socially equitable,” he said.

Keyamo Urges Stakeholders to Encourage Youths to Build Career in Aviation

Chinedu Eze

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has urged aviation industry stakeholders to take it as responsibility to make Nigeria youths embrace aviation and develop their career in the sector.

He said this would ensure a sustained supply of skilled manpower into Nigeria’s aviation sector to address the critical challenges of an aging workforce and potential knowledge gaps.

Keyamo was represented by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Obiageli Orah, during the Grand Finale of the 14th National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC, 2025) and Air Transport Youth Empowerment Seminar held recently in Lagos.

He emphasised the global regulatory nature of the aviation sector, underscoring the necessity for stakeholders to implement measures that continuously attract high-quality human resources.

“Programmes such as this are avenues through which we can breed, nurture, and harvest such human resources,” he stated, commending Travel and

Business News for their significant contributions in this area.

NTEC Founder and National Coordinator, Mr. Ewos Iroro, revealed that the initiative, established in 2009, has successfully encouraged young Nigerians to consider careers in aviation, travel, and tourism while fostering greater awareness and support for air transport.

He disclosed that NTEC has already produced numerous young talents now actively contributing to various areas in aviation, citing the recent achievement of a past winner, Miss Adeola Peace, who earned her Masters Degree as an

Aeronautical Engineer. Representative of the DirectorGeneral, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, Olubukola Teriba, who is the Regional Manager Lagos, praised the event’s theme for reflecting the shared concerns of young Nigerians aspiring to join the aviation, tourism, and transport industries.

Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, echoed these sentiments through Mrs. Obiageli Orah, calling NTEC a crucial “breeding ground where many of our young ones have first encounter with the aviation world.”

Kayode Tokede

Kayode Tokede

L-R: Public Relations Officer, Twenty 9th Media (Consultant), Amarachi Jibulu; Chairman, Panel of Judges, Almond Insurance Industry Awards 2025/Former Secretary General of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO), Prisca Soares; Director, Human Resources and Administration, National Insurance Commission/member, panel of Judges, Mr. Rasaaq Salami, and Chief Executive Officer, Almond Productions Limited, Faith Ughwode, during the 2025 Almond Insurance Industry Awards press conference in Lagos… recently

Expert Calls for More Innovative Platforms to Drive insurance Awareness

Ebere Nwoji

Still in earnest search for ways of deepening insurance penetration and spreading awareness, the immediate past Executive Secretary African Insurance Organisation(AIO), Ms Prisca Soares, has called for establishment of innovative platforms that will drive insurance to the awareness of all Nigerians.

Soares who stated this at a press briefing to announce the opening of nominations portal for this year’s edition of the annual Almond Insurance industry Awards highlighted the importance of the Annual Almond Insurance Award and its contributions to the industry adding that there was need for more of such initiatives.

Soares observed that there was significant gap between awareness and actual insurance penetration especially when measured against the country’s vast population.

She said with the nominations portal

opened the Almond Insurance Industry Awards was one of the platforms created to drive insurance education and awareness in Nigeria.

She expressed a strong belief in the power of the awards to shine a positive light on the industry, given the feedback and participation from previous editions.

She said to ensure that the Almond Insurance Industry Awards meet international standards of similar awards in other jurisdictions, some categories of the awards were dropped and new ones introduced to engender inclusivity across the entire spectrum, emphasising that the 2025 edition would continue to reinforce these standards.

She said that after the nominations were received on the awards website, the panel of judges would review, shortlist, and oversee a transparent voting process that would lead to the announcement of winners.

Earlier in her welcome address, Chief Executive Officer of Almond

Productions Limited, Ms. Faith Ughwode, said that Almond Insurance Industry Awards celebrated the “Can Do Spirit” of the men and women across the Nigerian insurance industry who continually break barriers to promote insurance, despite prevailing economic and social challenges.

“While insurance penetration remained relatively low, practitioners continue to make impressive gains. According to the Nigerian Insurance Industry Report by NAICOM, the industry recorded a Gross Premium Income of over N1.2 trillion as at the end of 2024, a major milestone reflecting resilience and strategic innovation within the sector.

“The 2025 awards is in line with the industry’s renewed focus of raising insurance awareness through focus on enforcement of the compulsory insurances and the regulators’ collaborative efforts with other relevant agencies of government to increase insurance uptake nationwide.”

ASHON Seeks Cooling-off Period for ISA 2025 Implementation

The Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), has called for a cooling-off period before the full implementation of the newly signed Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 to enable its members to familiarise themselves with the new provisions.

The new Act incorporates innovations such as digital assets, crowdfunding, and financial technology (FinTech), provides a clearer basis for regulating Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) and digital investment products. It also empowers the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

to prosecute and jail an erring market operator.

Market watchers fear that capital market operators may struggle to comply with the new Act’s provisions due to its innovations and they need more time to have wider understanding.

Speaking at the Workshop, organised by ASHON on the implementation of ISA 2025 in Lagos, ASHON Chairman, Sam Onukwue, commended the SEC on the ISA 2025 but pleaded for a cooling-off period to allow members to gain deeper knowledge of the new securities laws.

Executive Commissioner for Operations of the Commission, Bola Ajomale, urged ASHON members to study the new ISA provisions and employ professionals to enhance their knowledge and interpretation of the Act.

Ajomale advised market operators to adopt self-reporting to mitigate sanctions in the event of a breach.

The Workshop featured presentations on, “Translating the New ISA 2025 Act into Practice,” “Legal Perspectives on Digital Assets & Regulatory Frameworks,” and “The ISA 2025 and Digital Innovations.”

OONI’S HOMAGE VISIT TO THE TINUBUS...

Matawalle: Lawal Should Come Clean About His

Planned Defection to Our Party

APC backs call for Mutfwang to join party

Chuks Okocha in Abuja Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has challenged Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State to stop his “hide and seek” game over alleged secret plans to defect from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC).

Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, said instead of hiding in the day and appearing at night, Lawal should be bold enough to come out in the open and follow the proper channel to join APC.

That was as the North-central wing of APC called on the Plateau State

Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, to defect from PDP to the ruling APC. The call came after the defection of the Akwa Ibom State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, at the weekend.

Matawalle, who spoke in Maradun, when he received his supporters who paid him a Sallah homage, said APC was a party of leaders with humility and respect. He advised Lawal to join the progressives through the laid down process for the progress of the state.

A statement by a former Commissioner for Information in Zamfara State, Ibrahim Dosara, quoted Matawalle as saying he would harbour no grudges if Lawal joined APC.

The minister stated, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a progressive leader, is a good manager of peace and tranquillity and is always focusing on the development of the country, and welcomes all wishing to join the APC.”

He assured his supporters of his commitment to their welfare and wellbeing and urged them to continue to support the administration of Tinubu for the realisation of its Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly in the areas of security, agriculture, health, social wellbeing and economic development.

Matawalle said Tinubu had Zamfara at heart and was always looking forward to salvaging its current security situation

and economic hardship.

The minister highlighted the efforts by the Tinubu administration to eliminate several terrorist kingpins and their foot soldiers, who had hitherto been terrorising Zamfara State, the North-west geopolitical zone, and the county at large.

He also said Tinubu recently ordered security operatives to bring to an end the spate of insecurity in northern Nigeria before the end of the year, adding that the Ministry of Defence and the security high commands were working out modalities and modus operandi to ensure compliance with the presidential directives.

Matawalle accused Lawal of failing

2027: N'Central Youths Endorse Olawepo-Hashim For President

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

A coalition of youth leaders from across the North Central zone has thrown its weight behind astute politician and businessman, Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, as their preferred candidate for the 2027 presidential poll.

The endorsement was made public in Abuja at the weekend by the Youth for the Actualization of North Central President (YANCP), a political movement gaining rapid traction among young people advocating for regional justice

and national inclusion.

Amid cheers and chants of “North Central for President,” YANCP’s National Coordinator, Comrade Ibrahim Musa, said the group’s endorsement was not just a political statement but a historic call for fairness.

According to him: “The North Central has bled, sacrificed, and stood firm at every critical juncture in Nigeria’s history. Yet, we have remained sidelined when it comes to the ultimate leadership position. This injustice must end, and in Dr. Olawepo-Hashim, we have found

the statesman to lead that charge.”

Olawepo-Hashim is widely respected as a founding figure of Nigeria’s democracy movement. A former presidential candidate and one-time deputy national publicity secretary of the PDP, he has long positioned himself as a bridge between regions, generations, and ideologies.

His background as both a political activist and a successful businessman gives him what YANCP described as the "rare combination of experience and vision" needed to rebuild Nigeria from the ground up.

“We are tired of recycled politics,” said Fatima Tanko, YANCP’s National Secretary. “Dr. Hashim brings intellectual depth, economic foresight, and moral clarity. He is not just from the North Central, he is for all Nigerians.”

Often referred to as Nigeria’s “Middle Belt,” the North Central region is known for its ethnic diversity and geopolitical significance. It has produced Senate Presidents, military chiefs, and strategic national influencers, but has never produced an elected president.

Microsoft Provides Roadmap for AI Advancement in Nigeria

Bennett Oghifo

Microsoft's new white paper, AI in Nigeria, commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by PwC and Lagos Business School, states that while developing economies like Nigeria face significant challenges in fully leveraging the advantages of AI, implementing the technology across key sectors could help address some of these issues and significantly reduce inequality.

This was one of the key findings unveiled during Microsoft AI Skills Week in Lagos recently.

The five-day event was designed to equip customers, business leaders, developers and end users with the knowledge and hands-on experience needed to drive AI adoption.

It combined self-paced learning, live sessions, and interactive workshops to provide a comprehensive learning experience.

During the event, experts brought critical insights from the white paper to life, unpacking a more data-driven approach to accelerating AI transformation.

“Although AI is still an emerging field with early-stage applications in Nigeria, global advancements and the growing recognition of AI’s transformative power have catalysed a shift in mindset across the country.

“Entrepreneurs, researchers, and policymakers are now exploring AI to address local needs and drive growth,” said Ola Williams, Managing Director, Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana.

Government and educational institutions have started fostering innovation and creating an environment for AI research and development.

Programmes like the Nigeria

Artificial Intelligence Research Scheme (NAIRS) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) support AI projects.

Recently, the Nigerian government also published its National AI Strategy, aiming to leverage AI for economic growth, social development, and technological leadership.

From finance to e-commerce, agriculture, and healthcare, AI offers numerous opportunities for progress.

This is evidenced by greater adoption of the technology across

sectors, as well as increased AI startup funding. Nigerian banks use chatbots for services like account inquiries and customer complaints.

In e-commerce, platforms such as Bumpa use AI as business coaches, and in agriculture, services like Kitovu employ AI for agronomic advice and personalised crop analysis.

This integration of AI is driving efficiency and bolstering Nigeria's digital economy.

According to Olufemi Osinubi, Partner and WMA Consulting Risk Services Leader, PwC Nigeria: “We stand at a pivotal moment where AI is revolutionising industries and transforming economies. Countries are increasingly adopting AI technologies across critical sectors like healthcare, finance, and education.

to do the needful in the fight against banditry in the state. He accused the governor of choosing to deceive the people.

Matawalle said when he was governor, the people enjoyed and witnessed rapid development, as he meticulously clamped down on insecurity, and promoted freedom, welfare and social wellbeing of the people.

He stated, “Unlike the current happenings under Lawal’s administration in the state, where people, including members of the PDP, are grumbling under the current leadership in the state, these were far better in the state.”

Matawalle stated that unlike during his tenure, when there were little resources, between N3 billion and N4 billion per month, the present administration in the state received between N19 billion and N24 billion monthly from federal allocation.

He challenged Lawal to disclose the amount of money accruing to the state on monthly basis to justify the development projects he claimed to have executed.

APC Backs Call for Mutfwang to Join APC

North-central APC Forum called on Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang to defect from PDP to APC, saying its call is supported by the party’s national leadership.

The forum had been urging Mutfwang to join APC, but the campaign had been resisted by some APC leaders in the state, who feared that the governor’s defection might automatically hand him control of the party’s structure and the 2027 governorship ticket.

Tensions rose after the forum endorsed the “Green Cap Movement”—a symbol associated with Mutfwang and his supporters—for the 2027 governorship election in Plateau. While the forum insisted this was part of a strategy to woo the governor, some party leaders condemned the move as anti-party and called for sanctions.

As a result, there had been calls for the suspension of the forum’s chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga.

Notably, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, APC’s 2023 governorship candidate, questioned Zazzaga’s loyalty and commitment to the party.

NCoS Says 59,786 Inmates

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has revealed that 59,786 inmates out of the total of 80,879 inmates’ population, representing 74 percent across the country, have been captured into the NIMC platform.

The NCoS gave the information on Sunday in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Umar Abubakar, in reaction to publication claiming non-commencement of National Identity Number (NIN) registration in 256 Custodial Centres across the nation.

Abubakar, in the statement, sad:

“The attention of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has been drawn to a recent publication by a section of the media alleging that the National Identity Number (NIN) registration exercise is yet to commence in all custodial centres across the country.

“This report is misleading, inaccurate, and does not reflect the current state of affairs within our custodial facilities.

“The Service wishes to categorically state that the NIN registration of inmates in our custodial centres is not only ongoing but has recorded significant progress.

“A majority of inmates across various custodial centres nationwide have already been successfully enrolled into the National Identity Database through the collaborative efforts of the Service and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

Available data show that as at 7thJune, 2025, out of the total of 80, 879 inmates’ population, 59,786 inmates approximately 74% have been captured into the NIMC platform.

“The registration of the remaining inmates is actively in progress, and mechanisms have been put in place to ensure its seamless completion.

“The claim that the registration has “yet to commence” in custodial centres is factually incorrect and fails to acknowledge the substantial work already done.”

L–R: Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; President Bola Tinubu; and his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, during the Ooni’s Sallah homage to President Tinubu in Lagos, yesterday

EKO FIESTA 2025 IN FOCUS...

Zelensky: Trump Administration Redirects

20,000 Anti-drone Missiles Meant for Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky

has confirmed that United States (US) President Donald Trump's administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally intended for Ukraine to American forces in the Middle East, in an interview with ABC News published on June 8. Zelensky said Ukraine had counted on the missiles to help counter relentless Russian drone attacks, which include swarms of Iranian-designed Shahedtype drones. On June 1, Russia

launched a record 472 drones in a single night.

"We have big problems with Shaheds… we will find all the tools to destroy them," Zelensky said. "We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it's a special technology."

Zelensky said the plan had been agreed upon with thenUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and was launched under President Joe Biden's administration.

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 4 that the Trump’s administration had redirected the munitions, which include special fuzes used in advanced rocket systems to intercept drones, towards US forces stationed in the Middle East.

The Pentagon reportedly informed Congress in a classified message that the reallocation of the fuzes for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System was deemed an "urgent issue"

by current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

A Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) source told the Kyiv Independent on June 4 that Russia is preparing to launch more than 500 long-range drones per night in future attacks, as Moscow rapidly scales up drone production and constructs new launch sites.

The Trump administration has halted the approval of new military aid packages to Ukraine since the start of his second term

Health Expert: How to Reduce Treatment Cost for Sickle Cell

Onyebuchi

A public health specialist from the US has said Nigerians can access treatment for the dreaded sickle cell at an affordable rate using the gene therapy regimen.

According to the National Demographic Survey of 2018, “between 1.5 to 3 percent of Nigerians across the different geopolitical zones had sickle cell disease. On average, about 2 percent. We are looking at 4 million persons with sickle cell disease.”

Although there have been innovative solutions to resolving health crisis associated with sickle cell in recent times, but the prohibitive cost appears to be preventing many

from accessing it.

Speaking in an interview with journalists in Abuja, a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in the United States and the co-founder of the Global Gene therapy Initiatives, Prof. Jennifer Adair, said it is possible to scale down treatment cost for sickle cell in line with the local economy.

For instance, she said that it costs $2.2 million for a patient to undergo gene therapy treatment in the US.

However, Adair said recent findings have shown the cost of gene therapy treatment can be scaled down in line with the local economy.

She said that the drug components manufactured locally can reduce its cost and make treatment more

affordable.

Adair said that a lot of efforts are currently being made to reduce the cost of gene therapy.

Her words: "In the United States, we use something called a value-based pricing system. It reflects what the market can bear and also the value that the therapy adds to the patient and to society. We have to look at the economic factors that go into that price in the U.S. and scale them for the local economy.

"We have been doing research over the last five years for how best to approach this. We have developed a cost-effectiveness strategy in Uganda that will be part of new research that I will highlight briefly today in our session and also will be a publication

in the scientific literature in the next few months.

"What we found is that if you take the gene therapy that Jimmy received, which costs $2.2 million right now in the U.S., and you scale that for the local economy in Uganda, you get something that is just as cost-effective if it costs about $40,000 U.S. in the Uganda setting, so there's a big scaling there.

"Now, $40,000 U.S. is still a lot of money. We don't think that will be the ultimate price, but it's a starting point that could be leveraged to give access to the patients who are most ill who could most benefit from something like this gene therapy now to help implement the clinical research and the access for patients moving forward".

CIFCFIN Urges FG to Initiate Forensic Performance Audit on Devt Partner Projects

Bennett Oghifo

The Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN), has called on the federal government to immediately initiate a comprehensive Forensic Performance Audit of all donor-funded and development-partner-supported projects across the country as a veritable tool to end Nigeria’s cycle of debt without development.

Speaking at the institute’s 12th Direct membership graduation and fellowship awards ceremony in Abuja recently, the President/Chairman, Governing Council, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, in his address titled, “Forensic Performance Audit for Development Partner Projects: A Tool to End Nigeria’s Debt without Development,” said the audit should be designed to independently verify

the level of implementation, trace the flow and utilisation of funds, uncover instances of misappropriation or abandonment, and ensure that responsible parties are held accountable.

“Such a strategic step is not only necessary to restore public trust and donor confidence but also critical to safeguarding Nigeria’s future access to development financing,” he asserted.

The CIFCFIN boss frowned at several failed World Bank-funded water projects in states like Ekiti, Bauchi, Rivers, Kaduna, Ogun, Enugu, Lagos and Cross River that had plunged the country into debt burden with no result on ground to justify the investment.

But particularly irking, he stated, is the report published by Corporate Accountability & Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) which showed that

Nigeria would be repaying $6.25 million annually for 40 years, amounting to a total of $250 million excluding accrued interest on the loan for the failed World Bank-funded water project – the Third National Urban Reform Programme - approved in 2015 with the aim of improving water supplies in Ekiti, Bauchi, and Rivers States.

“Yet a decade later, residents still rely on water vendors for contaminated supplies. This is unacceptable.”

He said the deployment of Forensic Performance Audit would ensure that such ugly situation does not recur as it entails “following the money; tracing every Dollar from loan approval; demanding evidence on why the projects collapsed, stalled or failed and ensuring that those found culpable face the consequences.”

Gashinbaki told the new members

and fellows of the institute that their work is clearly cut out for them in the face of mounting corruption and other forms of criminality in the country.

He said: “You should see yourselves as change agents and change makers that have been duly enlisted in the anti-corruption army that would transform Nigeria into greatness.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman, Professional Training & Standards (PT&S) of the Institute, Prof. Michael A. Ayeni, said the training has equipped the graduating direct members and fellows, with more than just technical skills.

His words: “It has shaped their judgment, sharpened their investigative abilities, and prepared them to be key players in combating financial crimes and frauds in both the public and private sectors.

in January. Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about continued assistance to Kyiv and temporarily suspended

military shipments earlier this year,

agreed to a ceasefire framework during peace talks in Jeddah on March 11.

Kwankwaso Receives 1,230 APC Supporters

Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

National leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has received no fewer than 1,230 former supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the party.

The defectors, who hailed from Albasu and Sumaila Local Government Areas in the Kano South Senatorial District, were previously aligned with the Waraka political group of Senator Kawu Sumaila.

A statement by the Director General, Media and Publicity to the the Kano State Governor, Sanusi Bature, said their return was formally announced during a political

gathering held on Sunday, and attended by key party stakeholders.

Addressing the gathering, Kwankwaso reiterated his longstanding commitment to issue-based politics, which he said distinguished the NNPP from others.

“I am always happy to receive people who believe in our movement, not because of financial incentives, but because of our collective vision for a better Nigeria. This is politics of ideology, not politics of the highest bidder.”

Speaking on behalf of the returnees, Jamilu Zamba and Maryam Romo, reaffirmed their loyalty to the NNPP and praised Kwankwaso’s leadership style.

The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) has commended the federal government for approving the revised National Urban Development Policy (NUDP).

The institute said this in a statement signed by the National Public Relations Secretary, Dr. Jesse Nor.

The revised policy, developed by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development in collaboration with UN-Habitat and other key stakeholders, replaces the previous 2012 edition.

It reflects the pressing realities of Nigeria’s urban challenges and the country’s global development commitments. The policy provides a transformative framework to guide urban planning, development, and governance across Nigeria, over the next decade.

The National President of NITP, Dr. Chime Ogbonna, sees the development as a step towards a further closer attention to the urban development aspect of the ministry.

He appealed to the ministry to prepare ground for the establishment of the National Urban and Regional Planning Commission as provided for in the yet to be implemented Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Law of 1992(Cap 138 LFN, 2004).

The institute also indicated willingness to assist the ministry in getting all its urban development polices achieved in the overall interest of all Nigerians.

With over 70 per cent of Nigeria's population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, the need for a new, integrated urban development framework has become urgent.

The NUDP responds to this challenge by introducing a "business unusual" approach that departs from fragmented, reactive planning, and embraces proactive, inclusive, and long-term strategies. It recognises that effective urban development requires strong institutions, strategic leadership, and citizen participation. A major focus of the policy is the strengthening of urban governance.

Bennett Oghifo

L–R: Chief Marketing Manager, The Dosh and Wales Company for Eko Fiesta 2025, Mr. Obey-Fabiyi; Marketing Manager, Miss Adeosun Gbemisola; Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Idris Aregbe; and Project Manager, Miss Akinpelumi Deborah, during a courtesy visit by the Eko Fiesta 2025 team to the office of the special adviser… recently

Ezigbo in Abuja

only resuming them after Ukraine

INAUGURATION OF 65 RESPONSE PATROL AND ESCORT VEHICLES FOR IHS OPERATIONS...

HURIWA Raises the Alarm over Alleged Planned Manipulation of 2027 Elections

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) accused APC-led federal government of perfecting procedural manipulation of the 2027 general elections by putting in place a smart set of systems and manipulative processes to effectively gain absolute control and command of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

HURIWA said one of the procedural manipulations was the deliberate appointment of wellknown All Progressives Congress (APC) card-carrying members as National Commissioners of INEC.

It accused Tinubu of compelling second term seeking PDP governors to enlist into APC as decoys for writing the results of the elections in their jurisdictions.

A statement by National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said it was on the basis of the latest development that the national chairman of APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, openly boasted that his party would win over two-thirds of the states of the federation and keep a commanding control and leadership of the National Assembly.

The rights group expressed the hope that the organised civil society organisations would be able to put measures in place to expose the apparent wellcontrived and well-funded election manipulation procedure of the ruling APC.

HURIWA said, in the statement, “By illegally staging a regime change in Rivers State and unconstitutionally suspending the governor Siminalayi Fubara so as to force him into a sudden surrender, is a well-coordinated

2027: Igbos Won’t Partake in June 12 Protest, Ohanaeze Declares

Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has said the Igbo people would not participate in the proposed June 12 Democracy Day protest.

In a statement issued by the Deputy President General of the organisation, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the body noted that the decision to advocate against participation in the June 12 protests was not born out of indifference but a calculated maneuver aimed at safeguarding lives and properties of Igbo people.

He further declared that no protests would be permitted across all seven Igbo-speaking states until their collective questions were adequately addressed by the Nigerian government.

"We wish to convey a crucial, and perhaps uncomfortable, reality to the organisers of the national protests. There exists a unanimous consensus among Ndigbo regarding our refusal to engage in any form of protest, neither in our region nor in other locales across Nigeria where Igbo reside.

"Moreover, it is of utmost importance to inform the public that a clandestine plot is reportedly being contrived in Abuja, Kaduna, Maiduguri, and Lagos by unpatriotic politicians and unscrupulous anti-

democratic elements.

“It appears there is an intention to utilise these national protests as instruments of destabilisation against President Tinubu’s administration, all while seeking to cast the Igbo as adversaries of the state. This must not stand unchallenged,” it stated.

Ohanaeze added that Ndigbo has endured horrific experiences in the wake of previous national protests, which were often marred by betrayal and treachery.

"Historical evidence reveals that during such struggles, Igbos have been ruthlessly scapegoated and sacrificially consumed in the frenzy of national unrest.

“For 65 years post-independence, we have witnessed our people suffer disproportionately in anti-government protests, highlighted by an unforgiving tide of violence.

"Compounding these extraordinary challenges are the severe insecurity issues pervading the Southeast, which renders any form of protest not only imprudent but perilous.

“Additionally, it is paramount to assert that we, as Igbos, will not engage in national protests until our urgent demands are addressed, particularly the release of all Igbo prisoners of conscience unlawfully held across various detention centers," Isiguzoro said.

strategy by the APC to rig the result of the 2027 election in Rivers State even before the first ballot is cast.

“These public outbursts of the

handpicked National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress that more PDP governors and lawmakers would move into APC soon is not a fluke but a

revelation of the inner workings of the national ruling party and their electoral strategy for 2027.

“The APC is plotting to establish a China-styled

communist one-party state in Nigeria. The blueprint for turning Nigeria into an authoritarianism is already being systematically enforced by the APC.”

Army Denies Any Clashes with Police over Alleged Release of Fulani Terrorist Kingpin

The Nigerian Army denied a trending audio alleging that there was a violent confrontation between operatives of the Nigeria Police deployed to Operation Zenda Joint Task Force in Makurdi and troops of Operation Whirl Stroke over the alleged release of a Fulani terrorist kingpin by the soldiers.

A statement by Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, 401 Special Forces Brigade/Sector 1 OPWS, Captain Abdullahi Osabo, said the viral audio was the work of mischief-makers, ethnic provocateurs, and enemies of peace, intent on undermining public trust in security agencies and sowing discord within

communities.

Osabo said the Nigerian Army viewed such misinformation campaigns as a serious threat to national security and would not hesitate to identify and prosecute those responsible for disseminating them.

He stated, "The Nigerian Army has noted with grave concern the circulation of a highly misleading and malicious audio clip on social media alleging that troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) engaged in a violent confrontation with personnel of Operation Zenda Joint Task Force (JTF) in Makurdi, Benue State, on 4 June 2025.

“The audio also falsely claims the illegal release of a so-called Fulani terrorist kingpin by military personnel following the

alleged killing of 23 civilians and a Mobile Police (MOPOL) officer in Tulan community, Kwande Local Government Area.

"Following the claims, a fact-finding mission by OPWS in consultation with the police authorities established that no killings occurred in Kwande LGA on May 11, 2025, as alleged. The Benue State Police Command also confirmed that no such incident was recorded, debunking the false narrative.

“Additionally, the Commander of Operation Zenda base denied any confrontation with military personnel, stating that no raid occurred, contrary to the audio's claims."

Osabo said troops, in a completely unrelated and legitimate operation, had earlier

intervened in Udei, where a Fulani was rescued from mob lynching and handed over to the police.

The statement said the two Fulani persons referenced in the audio remained in police custody and were being processed through proper legal channels. It stated, "The viral audio is clearly the work of mischiefmakers, ethnic provocateurs, and enemies of peace, intent on undermining public trust in security agencies and sowing discord within communities.

“It is a fabricated narrative, devoid of fact, designed to falsely implicate military personnel and derail the coordinated security efforts of Operation Whirl Stroke and its partners.”

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

The Delta State Executive Council (EXCO) has approved the release of N6.7 billion as the state's counterpart funding for access of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) grant for educational development in the state.

The EXCO, at a pre-Sallah holiday meeting at the Government House Asaba, also approved many new and old roads projects across the three senatorial districts of the state for construction and rehabilitation, valued at many billions of naira, pursuant to improving infrastructure base of the Oborevwori administration's economic programmes and activities.

The State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, briefing newsmen on the resolutions at the meeting, said that the release of the N6.7 billion Universal Basic Education counterpart funding would "enable the state to draw matching grants for the construction, renovation,

and equipping of public schools".

He underscored the fact that the Oborevwori government was giving the nod for the important counterpart fund release without recourse to borrowing, which he noted has stood Governor Oborevwori as being outstandingly solvent in the country.

Aniagwu, who was in company with the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Festus Ahon, stressed that EXCO was deliberately expanding investments in road infrastructure to accelerate economic activities and improve the quality of life of Delta State citizens.

The double-barrel launch on road and education development was in tandem with Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s M.O.R.E. Agenda, which places premium on renewal of infrastructure and improved human capital development.

Aniagwu said: "There were a lot of considerations at today’s EXCO meeting, ranging from road construction to improvements in our education sector.

There are some communities today where we had the opportunity to approve the appointment of traditional rulers."

The commissioner listed the projects approved by EXCO as including "Reconstruction of failed sections of the Uzere-Asaba-Ase Road; Aboh-Akarai concrete road with a 100-meter bridge across the Okiri River in Ndokwa East; Eku-Osubi Road; and, Okpanam-Ugbolu Road.

“For the sake of fluctuations, we have reviewed upwards some contracts awarded during the last administration. These include the Ejeme-AniogorObidugbo-Ekuku-Agbor Road Phase 1; Ajuebor and Uwaezueka Streets in Boji-Boji Owa; Amai-Aragba Road with 40 percent mobilisation; and, Idheze Internal Roads Phases 1 and 2.

“Other roads approved are the Ovrode-Aradhe Road Phase 1; Amaka/ Ogodogo/Ivu Access Road in OkpoloEnhwe; Atuma-Iga Internal Roads; the construction of Arho Road by Heroes of

Faith, Ughelli; and, the repudiation and re-award of Imohwe Street, Ekiugbo, to connect Oteri and Iwremaro Town Phase 1.

"Moreover, the rehabilitation/ asphalt overlay of Olu Palace Road/ Ugbori/Ekurede-Itsekiri Road, and the construction of Orugboh Roads in Warri South, were approved.

“Additional approvals include the rehabilitation/asphalt overlay of the Ekpan/Oviorie/Ovu-Inland/ Okpara-Inland/Isiokolo/Kokori Road in Ethiope East Local Government Area; the Bulu-Angiama Road in Patani Local Government Area; Overflow Avenue in Amukpe; Torugbene Internal Roads, and an upward review of the new Tankers’ Park at NigerCat, Ekpan. Also approved are the Mereje-Ekokor-Erogbo Road Phase 1, the construction of the Delta State House of Assembly’s Cooperative Estate Road, Okpanam, and Chief Wellington Oyibo Community Road in Mosogar.

Linus Aleke in Abuja

L–R: Associate Director, Corporate Communications, IHS Nigeria, Mr. Sylva Ifedigbo; Electronic Systems Service Director, G4S Secure Solutions, Mr. Dominic Ekesiobi; Director, Administration Operations, IHS Nigeria, Mr. Sadisu Jibrin; Vice President, Operations, IHS Nigeria, Mr. Jubril Saba; Managing Director, G4S Secure Solutions, Mr. Jonas Ahl; Head of Sales, G4S Secure Solutions, Bukky Bademosi; and Associate Director, Operations Excellence, IHS Nigeria, Bukola Konkwo, at the inauguration of 65 response patrol and escort (RPE) vehicles for IHS operations by G4S Secure Solutions Nigeria Limited in Lagos… recently

I HAVE DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM

There was one story at the weekend saying the Minister of State for Defence Bello Mutawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, publicly invited his successor Governor Dauda Lawal to also cross over to APC. According to Mutawalle, Lawal is trying to enter APC surreptitiously, and he was inviting him to come in through the front door. There is as yet no public indication that Lawal too is thinking of cross carpeting; he has so far loyally attended PDP governors’ and executive committee meetings and has kept his state PDP intact.

Why did two PDP governors, of states that have been solidly PDP since 1999, both of them first-termers with very good chances of getting re-elected, flee to APC with two years still to go before the next election? Let us image they have entered the clinic of a political physician. He brought out a political stethoscope and examined them thoroughly. He then declared, “I have diagnosed the problem. You are suffering from political cowardice.”

Natural and man-made disasters have been a staple diet in Nigeria for as long as I can remember, but the recent flood in Mokwa, Niger State, was extremely painful to watch, even on a social media video. Where did so much water suddenly come from? Since Mokwa town is sitting by the River Niger, water has been its residents’ day and night companion for generations. They drink it, use it for domestic purposes, fish in it, irrigate their farms and row their canoes in it. Yet, the threat from water is ever present. Researchers looking for signs of life in other planets essentially look for water, but mankind’s best resource can suddenly become a deadly enemy. What caused the Mokwa flood? There are three huge dams in the vicinity, so the first suspicion was that they were opened to release water. Minister of Water Resources however said no dams were opened, that it was unusually heavy rainfall occasioned by climate change. This Minister should walk into the clinic of a physician for testing. He will examine him all over and then declare, “I have diagnosed the problem. You are in charge of Africa’s third longest river, people built houses

right on its banks and you didn’t tell them water was coming. You are an absentee minister.”

No event in Nigeria in the past ten days received more camera and video shots as much as the commissioning of completed sections of the colossal LagosCalabar expressway. President Tinubu, the French contractor, many governors and ministers were on hand to witness the event. As it happened, only 30kms out of the projected 700 kms was commissioned. That, too, was disjointed, according to a social media activist who straddled the road with a video camera. He said 18kms of the road was separated from another ten kms, while all the other sections were marshes plus heaps of gravel here and there. Ok, a government that is marking its half time in office needs to commission something, but why commission a project that is only 4% completed? If a student gets 4% in a WAEC exam, will his parents organize a celebration, even if he promises to make up more marks by next year? Minister of Works Dave Umahi should enter our physician’s clinic for an examination. After examining him with a stethoscope and scanning machine, the physician is likely to say, “You are a hard-working minister but I have diagnosed the problem. Sycophancy has gotten into the way of engineering.”

That missing handshake in Lagos also deserves a physician’s thorough evaluation. Many VIPs lined up at a state function in Lagos to greet the President. He was shaking their hands one by one until he came upon the outstretched hands of the Governor of Lagos. The President skipped Babatunde Sanwo-Olu’s hand and went straight to the next person. Was it a slip or a snub? Was it a fall out from the botched effort earlier this year to remove Lagos State Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, an event that folks said had caused frosty ties between the governor and his godfather the president? This happened around the same time as the biggest international fallout, between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, up to and including allegations of appearing in a paedophile’s guest list. Nigerian leaders

being copycats, did they think we must copy everything that Oyinbos do?

Governor Sanwo-Olu should go, not to a physician this time, but to a Babalawo. The spiritualist is likely to sweep the ground, recite incantations and then declare that the missing handshake portends a great future for both men. How, no one can tell at the moment; we must wait and see. Some missing handshakes are actually life savers. A few years ago, I wrote about the late Colonel John Yahaya Madaki, who escaped execution for suspected involvement in the abortive Dimka coup of 1976 partly because Defence Minister Major General Iliya Bisalla snubbed him and refused to shake his hand among sixty officers lined up at the NDA Officer’s Mess in Kaduna. Who knows, this snub may turn out to save Sanwo-Olu from the political equivalent of execution, which is impeachment.

In recent times, Benue State has been the Ground Zero of killings by roving bands. Certainly, as both President Tinubu and the Army Chief indicated recently, there are underlying inter communal issues fueling the problem. At the weekend however, Governor Hyacinth Alia introduced a new angle when he alleged that politicians were behind the killings. He mentioned National Assembly members and other people in Abuja, a not-so-veiled finger pointing at his intra-party rival, Secretary to the Government of the Federation [SGF] George Akume. The governor said these prominent Benue indigenes remained silent in the wake of the bloodshed. Akume took the hint, and his office quickly issued a statement, saying as SGF he was doing many things by following due process and not in the airwaves.

Both Governor Alia and SGF Akume should walk into the physician’s clinic. This time he is likely to put both on them under an MRI machine, take several images and examine them carefully. He will then say, ‘I have diagnosed the problem. You, Governor Alia, you are suffering from another form of the Ortom Syndrome. Whenever it was time to pay salaries and Ortom didn’t have the money, he blamed herdsmen, who had never seen a

JAPA: THE COURAGE AND COST OF NIGERIA'S GREAT EXODUS

on WhatsApp calls that feel both immediate and artificial. Children born abroad grow up with hybrid identities, sometimes unable to speak their parents' language or understand the values they left behind.

The psychological price of migration is huge. Take Emmanuel, a computer science graduate from Enugu who arrived in Toronto in late 2023. At first, he thrived—new friends, a buzzing tech hub, crisp winter mornings. Within weeks, though, he began waking at 3 a.m., heart pounding, unable to shake the fear that he was alone in a strange land. Migraines set in, his appetite vanished, and he drifted into a fog of irritability and despair—a textbook case of the "Ulysses syndrome," an immigrant stress reaction marked by anxiety, insomnia, and somatic pains. A 2020 meta-analysis of NigerianAmerican immigrants found that higher acculturative stress was strongly linked to poorer mental health outcomes. Emmanuel endured six months of silent struggles before reaching out for therapy, finally realising that the cost of leaving home included the erosion of his well-being.

Nigeria, as a state, teeters between the benefits and burdens of this migration wave. On the one hand, remittances boost foreign reserves, provide fiscal stability, and enhance the purchasing power of recipient households. Diaspora investments are also reshaping the tech ecosystem. Diaspora entrepreneurs in London and Toronto have launched some of Europe's fastest-growing fintech startups. Additionally, Nigeria ranks second only to India in terms of long-term migrants to the UK, with approximately 120,000 Nigerians relocating there as of June 2024. Nigerian-led startups in the UK, Canada, and the US are channelling capital, ideas, and tools back home, with Lagos fast becoming a West African tech hub despite its infrastructural challenges. Culturally, the country is undergoing a kind of global flowering—Afrobeat now dominates

international music charts, Nollywood films are streaming on Netflix, and Nigerian chefs are redefining fine dining in New York, Toronto, and Berlin.

But the cost of this "success" is staggering. Over 75,000 Nigerian professionals have emigrated between 2019 and 2024. The health sector has been particularly hard hit: the Nigerian Medical Association estimates that more than 50% of registered doctors are practising abroad, widening the patient-doctor gap at home and prompting emergency staffing drives that still fall short. In 2023 alone, over 3,600 nurses were licensed to practice in the United Kingdom. University classrooms, once bustling with brilliant lecturers, now depend on visiting professors and part-time faculty. Hospitals are forced to recruit unqualified assistants to fill gaps. In the public sector, civil service talent is drying up, with young officers resigning en masse. The result is a talent vacuum that weakens national institutions just when they are most needed. Government responses have been largely reactive and uncoordinated. Proposals to bond medical graduates to public service contracts for five to ten years have sparked outrage, especially among young professionals who argue that the state has no moral authority to restrict their freedom after failing to provide basic infrastructure, job security, or personal safety. Some state governments have introduced scholarship retention schemes and returnee investment incentives, but these remain too few, poorly implemented, or overshadowed by more attractive foreign offers. Policy inertia persists because Japa isn't just a problem of economics—it is a verdict on governance. People are not leaving because they lack patriotism; they are leaving because patriotism no longer feeds them.

And while the Nigerian government tries to cope, Western host countries also wrestle with their own dilemmas. Nigerian migrants

voucher. Instead of commissioning projects to mark your Half Time in office, you are blaming politicians for the killings.” He will then turn to the SGF and say, “I have also diagnosed your problem, Mr. Akume. You are a failed godfather. You did not forgive Mr. Alia for defeating your godson in the APC primaries three years ago and you are bent on denying him a second term.”

Reports at the weekend had it that major opposition party leaders failed to achieve a consensus on the way forward, beyond their unanimously agreed goal that President Tinubu and APC should be marched out of Aso Rock in 2027. Yet, they cannot agree on which briefcase political party to join, or whether they should seek to register a new party. And that’s even their small problem. The bigger problem is who should head their joint presidential ticket after the merger? Essentially, should it be Atiku Abubakar with Peter Obi as running mate, or should it be Peter Obi with an Atiku anointed running mate, since Atiku himself cannot be running mate, having been vice president for eight years already? Both leaders should submit themselves to a test in that prominent physician’s clinic. This time he will run a blood test on both of them, test their heartbeats and pulse rate, then take saliva samples like we used to see during the Covid pandemic. The results will come in within minutes. The doctor will say, “I have diagnosed the problem. You, Wazirin Adamawa, you are a perennial candidate. You think you must lead the ticket because you are politically senior to Mr. Obi and you got more votes in the last election. You are suffering from forever running syndrome.” Next, he will turn to the other patient and say, “Mr. Obi, I have diagnosed your problem. You want to become president so that you will turn Nigeria into China. You want the Obidient movement to become our Communist Party when it is only three years old with branch offices all over the social media. You are suffering from political leapfrog syndrome, from number three in the last election to number one in the next election.”

now comprise a significant portion of new arrivals in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. In Canada's 2024 immigration data, Nigerians ranked among the top five sources of skilled workers. Western host nations find themselves in a precarious balancing act. Nigerian nurses and engineers fill critical shortages, bolstering public coffers through taxes and consumer spending. In the UK, they are heavily represented in the National Health Service and private care homes. These workers are praised for their diligence, education, and resilience.

However, the systems receiving them are often ill-prepared to integrate them. Many face bureaucratic roadblocks, including slow credential recognition and expensive licensing exams, which delay their full participation in the workforce. Years of retraining blunt the momentum of eager professionals, and discrimination can turn anticipation into anxiety. Others face subtle racism, wage disparities, and cultural isolation. Britain's new Code of Practice for ethical healthworker recruitment aims to ensure that "poaching" talent doesn't hollow out Nigeria's fragile health system, yet the debate over "brain drain" ethics continues amid NHS staffing crises.

Despite these challenges, the Nigerian presence abroad is growing stronger and more confident. Nigerian culture is reshaping Western norms—Afrobeat now pulses through Glastonbury stages; jollof rice trucks line the streets of London; Yoruba phrases are sneaking into British slang; and the children of migrants are rising to prominence in politics, academia, and the arts. In 2025, the UK’s political landscape saw its first major-party leadership candidate of Nigerian descent. In America, Nigerian-American students consistently excel academically, and Nigerian churches and businesses have transformed entire neighbourhoods. These are not signs of

assimilation—they are signs of expansion, the Nigerian identity flowering beyond borders.

Yet the question remains: what happens to the country they left behind? Who teaches in the schools from which they once graduated? Who rebuilds the hospitals where they were trained? Who ensures that power stays on long enough to power a mother's air conditioner? Who stays to fix the power grid, redesign the curriculum, enforce the laws, and tell the next generation that hope is still possible at home?

Japa is not a simple story of brain drain or economic migration. It is a reckoning. It is a mirror held up to a nation that has failed too many of its brightest and bravest. But it is also a thread—an invisible umbilical cord—that connects the streets of Lagos to the clinics of Manchester, the classrooms of Toronto, and the startups of Berlin. And through that thread flows not just money but longing, memory, identity, and love. Japa is not unequivocal gain. It is a human response to systemic failures—economic, social, and political—and to the boundless courage of individuals chasing the promise of a better life. Its actual impact is braided across continents: in the phone calls between a migrant nurse and her mother, in the budget sheets of national ministries, and the urban rhythms of Toronto’s Chinatown. Perhaps, over time, Japa will evolve from a flight to a return, as seen in India. Possibly, one day, Aisha will bring her NHS experience back to Kaduna to build a clinic of her own, and Emmanuel will reopen his old bedroom as a co-working space for local tech startups. Perhaps Nigeria will invest in a future that gives people a reason to stay, not just a means to leave. Until then, the suitcase remains half-packed, the visa application opens on the browser, and the heart is torn in two—between what is and what should have been.

INAUGURATION OF ONIRU CENTRAL MOSQUE…

L-R: Executive Chairman of Iru/Victoria Island Local Council Development Area, Alhaja Rashidat Adu; Balogun of Iru Kingdom, Chief Abayomi Muyideen Daramola; Olori of Iru Kingdom, Olori Mariam Lawal; The Oniru of Iru Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Abisogun II, and Chief Imam of Iru Kingdom, Chief Imam Sheik Uthman Abdur’Razak Alao, at the inauguration of Oniru Central Mosque in Victoria Island, Lagos…recently

Anambra LP Guber Candidate, Moghalu, Condemns Attack on Running Mate for Accepting Position

David-Chyddy Eleke inawka

The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the Anambra State governorship election scheduled for November 8, 2025, Dr George Moghalu, has condemned attacks on his running mate, Mrs. Ifeoma Veronica Okaro.

Okaro, a leader of the women’s wing of Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU), has been earlier condemned by some

members of her group for taking up the position. The condemnation was in view of the support the group which is an affiliate of the Anambra State Government, and which is also viewed as the fourth tier of government, enjoys with the Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led government.

But while reacting to what it described as a smear campaign against his running mate, the

George Moghalu Campaign Organization (GMCO) has come down hard on the state Commissioner for Women’s

Affairs, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, who they accused of orchestrating the campaign against Okaro.

In a statement signed by the

Director of Media and Publicity of George Moghalu/Ify Okaro Campaign Organization (GMCO), Dr. Ikenna Agu, the party insisted

that it was a desperate and hurriedly arranged gathering, contrived to discredit it’s running mate because of fear of their growing popularity.

PDP, APC Bicker Over Abandoned Projects in Ondo

Fidelis Davidinakure

The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), in Ondo State yesterday expressed dismay over the alleged unwillingness and inability of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to complete all the ongoing projects left behind by his predecessor, Rotimi

Akeredolu (SAN).

The party in a statement issued by the state Director of Media and Publicity, Leye Igbabo, alleged that available facts showed that Governor Aiyedatiwa was not ready to go on with the projects because of his clear intention to destroy his predecessor’s legacy on the altar

of political vendetta, against the late governor and his camp who allegedly did all within their power to strive to deny him ascension to the office of the Governor when the late governor was clearly incapacitated by ill-health and even after the ultimate death.

According to the party, “Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa was said to have boasted of his powers as the Executive Governor to stop any projects that do not catch his fancy and that those who had benefited from the projects by way of monetary and/or material rewards should also go ahead to look for means of financing the said projects to completion.

‘Adeleke Has Productively Governed the State with Dividends Than APC in Osun’ May and Baker Seeks Govt’s Support to Build

Yinka Kolawoleinosogbo

The Special Adviser and spokesman to Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, Mallam Olawale Rasheed has posited that in less than three years the governor has responsibly and productively governed the state with deliveries and dividends that surpass the combined output of 12 years of the previous All Progressives Congress (APC) rule.

The spokesman, in an open letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the weekend and made available to THISDAY, informed the president of the outcome of the Adeleke administration under two and half years in office.

He posited that the governor had constructed over 250 kilometers of roads, paid over N60 billions in pension and salary debt, rehabilitated over 200 health centres, upgraded over 100 schools, placed more than 3000 pensioners on free health insurance, purchased 31 tractors for mechanisation, launched Osun digital economy, upgraded sport sector with state sport commission, among others.

According to him, “The administration is almost completing three flyover bridges alongside completion of several abandoned projects. University of Ilesa is now a reality while Osun State University had five separate projects completed.

Oniru Inaugurates New Central Mosque

The Oniru of Iru Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Abisogun II, has officially inaugurated the new Oniru Central Mosque.

The elegant, 300-capacity mosque, located on Palace Road, fulfills the Oba’s vision for an expanded place of worship to accommodate the growing number of worshippers and the area’s rapid urbanisation.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Oba Lawal expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah, the Oniru in Council, his family, and friends for their support.

He urged Muslim faithful

to use this new edifice as an opportunity to draw closer to God and to take ownership of the mosque.

He also charged Muslims, as they celebrate Eid al-Kabir, to never give up, regardless of their circumstances.

The Balogun of Iru Land, Chief Abayomi Muyideen Daramola, highlighted the significance of the day, noting its coincidence with the start of the week-long activities marking the Oniru’s fifth coronation anniversary. He congratulated the Oniru, emphasising the blessings awaiting those who build for God.

Former NYSC Director, Mercy Kolajo, Dies at 71

The Kolajo family has announced the passing of Mrs. Mercy Foluso Kolajo (née Fadeyi), a distinguished public servant, community leader, and former Director of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). She died peacefully on Sunday, May 25, 2025, after a brief illness. She was 71 years old. In a statement issued on behalf of the family, her son, Oluwatoyin Kolajo, expressed profound grief over the loss, describing her as a pillar of strength and a beacon of integrity.

A seasoned administrator and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Chief Mrs. Kolajo was also a serving Executive Council Member of the Institute at the time of her passing. Renowned for her commitment to public service and nation building, she played a pivotal role during her tenure at the NYSC, where she was instrumental in policy development and organisational reforms that strengthened the national youth programme.

Sunday Okobi

A prominent Nigerian pharmaceuticals company, May and Baker Nigeria Plc, has said that it is optimistic on getting the government’s support to enable it build a bio vaccine facility in Nigeria to complement

indigenous public health efforts.

This was communicated by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Patrick Ajah, while speaking at the 74th annual general meeting (AGM) of the firm in Lagos.

Ajah, while fielding questions from shareholders on the

Indigenous Bio Vaccine Facility

company’s commitment to advancing public health in Nigeria, stated that fundamental to vaccine research, production and sustainability is government support.

He stated that as government remains the major buyer of vaccines, their support is critical

to making indigenous product development a reality, noting that with sufficient funding, the firm is targeting 2026 to build its bio vaccine facility. According to him, “Bio vaccine is a bit slow but we are seeing some traction with the new minister.

Australia, Commonwealth, Train Nigeria’s Mining Professionals

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has officially launched a capacity enhancement programme for the first batch of Nigerian mining professionals at Murdoch University, Australia.

The initiative is a key outcome of the Nigeria–Australia collaboration with the support of the Commonwealth Government, aimed at addressing skill gaps in the mining sector and deepening bilateral ties between Nigeria and Australia.

During the 2023 Africa Down

Ayodeji Ake

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described industrialist and Chairman, Daily Need Industries Limited, Chief Oyin Jolayemi, as a national asset who has helped shape Nigeria’s economic landscape through his contributions to industrial growth and youth empowerment.

The President, who was represented by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, spoke at the 85th birthday reception of the industrialist held in Lagos.

Under (ADU) Conference in Perth, Australia, Alake entered into a bilateral agreement with the Government of Western Australia—through the Australian Ministry of Mines and Petroleum—and Murdoch University to facilitate technical training designed to strengthen the expertise of Nigerian mining professionals.

This collaboration, with strong support from the Australian High Commission in Nigeria, has now culminated in the commencement of a two-week pilot training programme involving 11 Nigerian participants at Murdoch University.

Tinubu, Govs Celebrate Industrialist, Oyin Jolayemi, at 85

“Mr President asked me to thank God for your life, a life of great impact, accomplishments, and inspiration. He also asked me to express his gratitude for your role in providing jobs for young Nigerians and supporting the development of our nation through your contributions to industry,” Salako said.

He noted that by providing jobs for the nation’s teeming youths in his various business ventures, Jolayemi was “aiding the administration’s Renewed Hope vision.”

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, his Ogun Statc counterpart, Dapo Abiodun; Kwara State Deputy Governor, Kayode Alabi and several dignitaries also joined in celebrating the renowned industrialist as he marked his 85th birthday.

Group Donates Website to TSG for Co-ordination, Registration of Supporters

The BAT Ideological Group, a coordinating supporters base of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has donated a website to the Tinubu Support Group (TSG) to facilitate easy registration and coordination of all members and support groups. This move is aimed at bringing all efforts under an umbrella that will reduce logistical costs associated traveling to Abuja for meetings

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

As part of this year’s Eid-elKabir festivities, the Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana, has taken significant steps to reinforce its partnerships with government authorities and host communities

Atoyebi said that the website is necessary to address issues of supporters who cannot afford to travel to Abuja for regular meetings or registration thereby keeping them up to date.

He noted that President Tinubu has a lot of supporters all over

and registration. It also will help in selling policies and political strategies of the President and ensure that coordinated actions and strategies eliminate working at cross purposes. According to the Convener of the BAT Ideological Group, Comrade Bamidele Atoyebi, “the website will provide a digital platform for supporters to register and access information about meetings, rallies, and planning strategies.”

the country and the majority of them may not have the time or means to travel regularly, like coming for meetings, or registering their association as directed by the President himself, that every support group should be registered under the umbrella of TSG, which will help in streamlining support groups working for the success and his re-election.

Dangote Cement Deepens Govt-Community Engagements in Kogi

in Kogi State. This was contained in statement released by the corporate Affairs unit of the company and made available to the journalists in Lokoja yesterday.

To deepen these relationships,

the Plant Director, Nawabuddin Azad, said the company was scaling up its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts around its catchment areas. Azad made this disclosure when he visited the Chairman of Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State, Abdullahi Adamu. The plant director said the company has executed several social projects as stipulated in the mutually agreed Community Development Agreement (CDA), adding that the company was sustaining the tempo.

Folalumi Alaran in abuja

Osimhen Rejects Al Hilal’s Blockbuster Deal for the Fifth Time

Duro

Ikhazuagbe

After Saudi Pro League club, Al Hilal, had agreed to pay the €75million asking fee by Napoli as well as reach a salary of €35million a year and a contract that will run until 2029, the Super Eagles striker turned down the deal yesterday.

According to top transfer expert, Fabrizio Ramono,

It was the fifth time that Osimhen would turn his back on offers from the Saudi club. Osimhen whose season-long loan deal at Galatasaray will run out end of this month, is believed to be waiting for decent offer from any of the big clubs for his to stay back in Italy or at best Europe.

Until Osimhen refused the deal, watchers of the European Transfer market had concluded his was going to be the first blockbuster signing of the summer window.

Romano had come up with an update that the Riyadh club have an agreement in place with Napoli to pay the entire 75 Million Euros release clause on the player.

This was after Napoli insisted they will not give a discount

following two bids by Al Hilal lower than the release clause.

Romano said Osimhen who returned to Nigeria after the Turkish Super Lig season ended was going to say his ‘yes’ for the transfer to be completed.

Osimhen was scheduled to undergo a routine medical, possibly in Paris, to finalise on this switch.

If the deal had pulled through, Osimhen would have been the lead striker for Al Hilal at this year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States of America.

The Saudis will open their campaign in Miami against Real Madrid on June 18.

Last Summer, Osimhen had similarly turned down the bid by Al Hilal to lure him away from the Italian Serie A to the Middle East.

It was going to be the last resort for Osimhen who was frozen out by Antonio Conte from the Napoli first XI. But Galatasaray turned out the saving grace for the Nigerian international. He reciprocated by winning the Super Lig Title and the Turkish Cup for Galatasaray, scoring 37 goals in 41 appearances.

Cristiano Ronaldo

up high the Nations League trophy shortly after Portugal defeated Spain 5-3 in penalty shootouts in Munich, Germany...last night

Ronaldo’s Portugal Beat Spain in Thrilling Nations League Final

Portugal beat neighbours Spain 5-3 in a penalty shootouts to settle a frantic final in Munich and win their second Nations League trophy.

Cristiano Ronaldo pulled Portugal level at 2-2 in the 61st minute, but there was nothing else to separate the two sides when the referee signalled the end of normal time.

Subbed off before extra time, Portugal captain Ronaldo dropped to the turf and sobbed tears of joy on the sidelines after Ruben Neves slotted home the winning penalty following Diogo Costa’s save from Alvaro Morata’s spot-kick.

Winners of the 2023 edition, Spain had opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Martin Zubimendi poked home after Portugal failed to clear their lines. Their lead was short-lived as Nuno Mendes slammed a low, angled strike past Unai Simon and into the far corner of the net five minutes later.

Mikel Oyarzabal, who netted

a late winner in last summer’s European Championship final against England, restored La Roja’s advantage before the break.

But Ronaldo came to Portugal’s rescue as he shrugged off Marc Cucurella to reach Mendes’ deflected cross and hook a volley in from close range.

Goncalo Ramos, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes and Nuno Mendes all calmly fired their penalties home before Morata’s weak effort was stopped by Costa.

And as Neves converted the final spot-kick, Portugal became the first team to win two Nations League titles - denying Spain, who were vying for the same honour.

Earlier, France won the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League bronze medals after beating Germany 2-0 in the third-place playoff at the MHPArena in Stuttgart, as the Finals hosts suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2023.

No side aims to play a bronzemedal fixture, but Germanylooked

determined to make the most of it.

Didier Deschamps’ side wrapped things up six minutes from time, as Mbappe raced clear of the tired defence, drew the goalkeeper, and squared for Michael Oliseto tap

In a deeply emotional and unforgettable moment, Nigerian international Rasheedat Ajibade played her final match in the iconic red and white of Atlético Madrid Femenino, bringing to a close a chapter filled with growth, resilience, and cherished memories.

The match, though a tough outing with a result that didn’t go in favor of the team, marked a significant milestone for Ajibade as she bid farewell to a club that had become much more than a workplace, it had become home.

Ajibade, who joined Atlético

Madrid in January 2021 from Norwegian side Avaldsnes IL, quickly established herself as a key figure within the squad.

Known for her blistering pace, technical brilliance, and relentless fighting spirit, the Super Falcons star left an indelible mark on the club’s history, contributing vital goals and performances in domestic and European competitions alike.

Following her final appearance, Ajibade took to social media to share a poignant and heartfelt message with her fans, teammates, and the entire

Atlético Madrid family.

In her message, she reflected on the journey, the highs and lows, and the invaluable life lessons learned along the way.

“What a tough pill to swallow last night, not the outcome we’d hoped for,” Ajibade began, addressing the bittersweet nature of her farewell match. “But honestly, I can feel us getting closer to where we want to be, improving season after season. With the dedication I see from this team, I know there’s so much greatness waiting for this team down the road.”

For Ajibade, her time at Atlético Madrid transcended the boundaries of professional football. It became a personal odyssey of growth, selfdiscovery, and transformation. “It was an emotional night for me, playing my last game for this incredible team,” she continued. “This club has been more than just a workplace; it’s where I’ve truly grown, not just as a player, but as a person. I’ve learned so much, unlearned some things too, and really evolved. The friendships I’ve made here, they’re not just teammates, they’re family now.”

The Professional Golf Development (PGD) Tour has announced that the 3rd eTranzact Golf Classic, is set to tee off at the prestigious Lakowe Lakes Golf Club in Lagos from June 12 to 14, 2025 and it has set professional golf on good footing.

Chairman of the PGD Tour, Wole Abegunde, said the eTranzact Golf Classic passion for the game and investment in youth development is a new milestone in sports sponsorship, especially golf.

According to him, “eTranzact, as a trailblazer in the tech ecosystem with a teeming youthful workforce, sees immense value in sports development,” he added. “This championship is a testament to how strategic partnerships can harness the potential of young athletes, fostering not only sporting excellence but also innovation and collaboration that drive economic growth.”

In his statement, the MD/CEO, eTranzact, Mr. Niyi Toluwalope, reaffirms the company’s continued investment in the Sport as a commitment to the growth, development and expansion of professional golf in Nigeria. “As one of Africa’s leading fintechs, we recognise the strategic importance of this partnership with the PGD Tour….”

The eTranzact Golf Classic, now in its third edition, has established itself as a cornerstone of the PGD Tour. Since its inception in 2023, the tournament has grown in stature, with Francis Epe of the Golf Section

of Ikoyi Club 1938 emerging as the champion in both previous editions. Epe’s back-to-back victories in 2023 at Lakowe Lakes and 2024 at IBB International Golf and Country Club in Abuja have solidified his status as a leading figure in Nigerian golf. This year’s 54-hole, three-day competition promises even greater excitement, with the inclusion of lady professionals for the first time, marking a significant step toward inclusivity in the sport. Again, the robust purse has also attracted entries from Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, Kenya, Zambia Côte d’Ivoire among other countries.

The PDG Tour Commissioner, Femi Olagbenro, has said that While the PGD Tour is headquartered in Nigeria and has primarily featured West African players in its last two editions, the Tour’s broader “vision is to use the PGD Tour platform to expose local golf talents to the global stage,” he stated. “We are committed to nurturing the next generation of African golf stars, and the eTranzact Golf Classic is a pivotal part of that mission.” He also underscores the impact of the support the Tour has enjoyed from different corporate bodies who has seen them as a channel to deliver value commensurate to their sponsorship commitment., “The eTranzact Golf Classic commitment confirms the trust we have earned from hosting different events for brands with commensurate value delivered.”

lifts

Victor Osimhen...says No to Saudi’s Al Hilal

into an empty net. France added the bronze to the Nations League gold medals they won in 2020/21, while Germany are yet to win silverware in the competition.

MAHMUDJEGA

VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

I Have Diagnosed the Problem

There was this apocryphal story in Reader’s Digest many years ago, about a man who entered the clinic of a hi-flying physician. He said, “Doctor, I have a problem. Whenever I see other people’s money, I cannot help taking them away.” The doctor brought out his stethoscope, examined the patient’s chest, arms, head and abdomen. He then sat back, puffed at his cigar and said, “I have diagnosed the problem. You are a thief!”

Gov Eno

During this long Sallah break, a second governor in a row defected from the party on whose platform he was elected and crossed over into the party that rules at the federal level. Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, said to be a pastor, nevertheless went back on his [political] vows and

defected from the main opposition PDP to APC. He was the second PDP governor in recent times to so defect, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State having done the same thing in April. Eno gave enough notice before his move. In recent months he had been openly embracing Senate President Godswill Akpabio and showering praises on the Tinubu federal administration. Last week he met with his cabinet members and formally informed them that he will be moving to APC. Anyone who is not ready to come with him should quit, the governor said.

Eno’s flirting with APC and the one week notice he gave were longer than what Governor Oborevwori gave, but still, his

DAKUKU PETERSIDE

BENEATH THE SURFACE

move was not as smooth as the latter’s. Whereas the Delta governor took along his predecessor in office, David Okowa [or maybe the other way around] as well as his entire basket of commissioners, special advisers and assistants, local government chairmen and councilors and all PDP officials at state and local government levels, several aides refused to follow Oga Eno to APC. At the weekend, there were reports that three commissioners quit, rather than follow him. There was also no mention of his predecessor in officer, ex-governor Udom Emmanuel, who masterminded Eno’s ascension to the governorship.

Continued on page 29

Japa: The Courage and Cost of Nigeria's Great Exodus

Istill remember the evening I first heard the term “Japa.” It came in the form of a meme—“If you’re seeing this, pack your bags”—plastered over an image of a dusty road disappearing into a golden horizon. The joke wasn’t just funny—it was painfully accurate. “Japa,” a Yoruba word meaning “to flee,” has evolved into a cultural and economic phenomenon, serving as a shorthand for the restless exodus of Nigerians, particularly the young and educated, in search of a better life. What was once a quiet movement of the desperate and the privileged has now morphed into a defining feature of Nigeria’s national psyche. It reflects not only a failure of the state but also the boundless courage of

individuals who continue to chase dignity, safety, and opportunity across oceans.

Beneath the headline-grabbing migration figures lie deeply human stories, complicated by trade-offs that span continents and generations. When Aisha, a surgical nurse from Kaduna, arrived in London in 2022, she secured an NHS position that paid her over three times her salary in Nigeria. Her new life was a dream on paper—financial stability, functional healthcare, and reliable electricity. But the price was steep: her mother, widowed and diabetic, was left behind with no one to accompany her to clinic visits. Her younger siblings, used to Aisha's help with tuition and groceries, now relied on irregular remittance flows

and prayer. Her calls home, filled with reassurance and cheer, barely masked the weight of her absence. Aisha's story is not exceptional—it is replicated across tens of thousands of households in Lagos, Yenegoa, Owerri, Ilorin, and beyond.

In 2023, Nigeria received an estimated $20.13 billion in remittances, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the few bright spots in the country's bleak economic landscape. Remittances now account for nearly 4% of Nigeria's GDP—greater than direct foreign investment — and serve as a vital buffer for families struggling with inflation, food insecurity, and crippling unemployment. These inflows fund school fees, hospital bills, building projects, and

sometimes entire family businesses. For many, having a child or sibling abroad is the difference between collapse and survival. But money doesn't hug you. It doesn't walk your grandmother to the mosque or church. It doesn't explain puberty to your 13-year-old son now growing up without a father figure.

What’s less visible but just as real is the emotional price of migration. There’s the guilt of leaving ageing parents in precarious health, the pain of missing births and funerals, and the slow erosion of intimacy with friends and siblings. Couples stretch their marriages across time zones, relying

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu with