Finally, Nigeria Exits FATF, Global Financial Crime Watchlist
Tinubu, NFIU boss, Edun, Fagbemi welcome country’s delisting from grey list Reiterate nation's commitment to financial transparency
Deji Elumoye, Alex Enumah in Abuja and Nume Ekeghe in Lagos
Nigeria has finally been
removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) global watchlist, marking a major step forward in the nation’s fight against money
laundering and illicit financial flows.
President Bola Tinubu yesterday welcomed the country’s delisting from
the FATF grey list, just as he pledged to continue reforms that would further sanitise the financial sector in furtherance of his adroit policies.
President of the FATF, Elisa de Anda Madrazo, congratulated Nigeria on the feat, while the Director/ Chief Executive Officer,
the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hafsat Abubakar Bakari, www.thisdaylive.com
Tributes Pour in as Oramah Steps Down as Afreximbank President
Successor, Olombi pledges to build on legacy of innovation, unity
Sunday Ehigiator
In what was both a grand celebration and an emotional farewell, tributes from African leaders, business magnates, and international dignitaries poured in yesterday for Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah, as he officially bowed out as President and
Chairman of the Board of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) after a decade of groundbreaking leadership that redefined the trajectory
of African trade, finance, and economic integration.
The valedictory ceremony, held at Afreximbank’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt,
was an affair befitting the stature of a man many described as, “Africa’s trade architect,” a scholar, visionary, and patriot whose ideas turned
into enduring institutions and whose leadership transformed Afreximbank into a continental
on page 8
Tinubu to New Service Chiefs: Strengthen Nigeria’s Security Architecture, Deepen Professionalism
President retains chief of defence intelligence in major shake-up Presidency says appointment of new service chiefs routine Governors pledge to share intelligence with DSS, others Experts harp on synergy, improved troops’ welfare
& REASON
Chief of Army Staff, Major-General W. Shaibu
Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen. Olufemi Oluyede
Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) S.K. Aneke
Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral I. Abbas
Bloomberg Billionaire Index: Dangote’s Net Worth Hits $30.2bn
Sunday Ehigiator
The net worth of Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote now stands at $30.2 billion, the Bloomberg
Billionaires Index revealed.
This, according to the report, represented an increase by $2.25 billion or eight percent year-to-date, which was supported by gains in his cement, oil, and fertilizer
businesses.
The Bloomberg data placed Dangote as the 75th richest person in the world.
Dangote’s fortune is tied primarily to his Lagos-based conglomerate, Dangote
Industries Limited, which holds stakes in multiple listed and private companies across the industrial and consumer sectors.
The group owns Dangote Cement Plc, the largest cement producer in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Dangote Oil Refinery, Africa’s biggest oil refining complex, which began operations in early 2024 after more than a decade of development.
The Dangote Oil Refinery, valued at $20 billion, remains his most valuable asset. Dangote owns a 92.3 per cent stake in the refinery, which has been key to the recent rise in his net worth.
TINUBU TO NEW SERVICE CHIEFS: STRENGTHEN NIGERIA’S SECURITY ARCHITECTURE, DEEPEN PROFESSIONALISM
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Linus Aleke in Abuja and Chiemelie Ezeobi in Lagos
In a bold move to strengthen the nation's security architecture, President Bola Tinubu yesterday replaced the Service Chiefs and gave the newly appointed military leaders a clear mandate to deepen professionalism, enhance vigilance, foster unity within the Armed Forces, and serve the nation with honour and dedication.
Precisely, the President appointed General Olufemi Oluyede to replace General Christopher Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff. The new Chief of Army Staff is Major-General W. Shaibu. Air Vice Marshall S.K Aneke is now the Chief of Air Staff, while Rear Admiral I. Abbas is the new Chief of Naval Staff. However, the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General E.A.P Undiendeye, retained his position.
The shake-up, described by analysts as both urgent and strategic, underscored the Tinubuled administration’s resolve to restore public confidence and reclaim control from spiraling threats and killings by armed bandits in some parts of the country.
This comes as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) pledged to deepen intelligence sharing and coordination with the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies, to tackle insecurity threats, violent extremism, and inter-communal tensions across the country.
The President in a post on his verified X handle, @officialABAT, while announcing changes in the hierarchy of the nation’s security leadership, explained that the new appointments were part of ongoing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s national security architecture and enhance operational effectiveness.
“I have approved changes in the hierarchy of our Armed Forces to further strengthen Nigeria’s national security architecture. I charge the new Service Chiefs to deepen professionalism, vigilance, and unity within our Armed Forces as they serve our nation with honour,” Tinubu wrote.
President Tinubu also expressed appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, and other former Service Chiefs for their “selfless service and dedicated leadership,” assuring that the new appointments reflect his administration’s resolve to ensure a secure and stable Nigeria.
Earlier yesterday, in a statement, presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare said, Tinubu had charged the newly appointed Service Chiefs to justify the confidence reposed in them to further enhance the professionalism, vigilance and comradeship that define the
Armed Forces of Nigeria.
The appointments were with immediate effect.
In a separate statement yesterday, the Presidency described as routine the appointment of new service chiefs.
Dare clarified that the appointment was a routine exercise within the constitutional mandate of the President, who, as Commander-in-Chief, bears the responsibility of recalibrating the nation’s security architecture for optimal performance.
He explained: "It is a routine, the President as the Grand Commander of the order of Federal Republic of Nigeria, can make appointments just as he changed the ministers few months ago".
Dare dismissed insinuations that the appointment was a confirmation of speculations in a section of the media suggesting undue discord.”
The presidential spokesperson affirmed that the President acted within his constitutional powers and prerogative in relieving former Service Chiefs of their duties.
He stressed that appointments and reappointments in the security sector remain the exclusive preserve of the President, in line with his obligation to safeguard national security and ensure effective leadership within the Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, the NGF has pledged to deepen intelligence sharing and coordination with the Department of State Services to tackle security threats, violent extremism, and inter-communal tensions across the country.
During its fifth meeting in Abuja, which held from Thursday night to early yesterday, the Forum also called on governors to rally support for the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, describing it as a vital step toward gender equity and inclusive governance.
In recent weeks, gunmen have launched sporadic attacks on lives and property in parts of the country.
The DSS had on Tuesday warned of a planned attack by the Islamic State West Africa Province targeting Ondo and Kogi States. In response, security agencies in the affected states have heightened surveillance and activated counterterrorism measures to thwart the threat.
Kogi State, which borders 10 states: Benue to the east, Anambra to the south, Enugu to the southeast, Edo and Ondo to the southwest, Ekiti and Kwara to the west, Niger to the north, Nasarawa to the northeast, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has been identified as a strategic location.
Alarmed by these developments, NGF, in a communique signed by its Chairman, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman
AbdulRazaq and read by Lagos State Governor, Babajide SanwoOlu, emphasised the need to strengthen intelligence sharing and collaboration with federal security agencies to promote peace and stability across the country.
Sanwo-Olu stated, “The Forum received a presentation from the Director-General of the DSS, Mr Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, on emerging security threats and intelligence-led strategies to strengthen subnational coordination."
In a related development, security experts yesterday set agenda for the newly appointed Service Chiefs, urging them to prioritise synergy amongst the services, invest in troops’ welfare, and judiciously manage the funds at their disposal to achieve the Federal Government’s objectives in the defence and security sector. They also dismissed speculations that the sack of the former chiefs may be connected to the alleged attempted coup plot which the military authorities had previously denied.
The former Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ogbole Amedu-Ode, advised the new chiefs to carry out their constitutionally assigned duties to the best of their ability and ensure the security of the country, both internally and externally, so that citizens can sleep with their two eyes closed, and travel without fear of bandits, kidnappers, or terrorists on the highways.
The retired ambassador, who spoke to THISDAY, said: “I expect them to prioritise kinetic efforts, while non-kinetic measures should be directed towards exposing those who sponsor insecurity — the conflict merchants. We should be able to identify who they are and bring them to face the full weight of the law.”
A security expert and veteran defence journalist, Chidi Omeje, stressed the need for collaboration and synergy among the services, as well as improved welfare for frontline troops.
According to him: “The new COAS was a theatre commander not long ago, so he understands the issues at stake — namely, extinguishing the flames of terrorism in Nigeria. He is aware of the challenges. I expect each and every one of them to strengthen collaboration, as no service can do it alone.
Former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, said the President has his reasons, but changing the Service Chiefs may not bring about immediate improvements in the security situation.
He added: “They must concentrate all efforts on fostering synergy; they must work together to succeed. The government must
also play its part by adequately funding the services."
PROFILES OF NEW SERVICE CHIEFS
Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede: Seasoned Commander and Strategic Reformer Appointed Chief of Defence Staff
President Tinubu approved the appointment of Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), following a successful tenure as the 24th Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
A seasoned commander and reform-minded officer, he is widely regarded as one of the key figures behind the Nigerian Army’s recent transformation drive, which focused on operational efficiency, personnel welfare, and inter-service cooperation.
During his tenure as Chief of Army Staff, General Oluyede led a series of successful counterterrorism and counter-insurgency operations in the North-East and North-West, resulting in the decimation of several terrorist enclaves and the surrender of thousands of insurgents.
He also prioritised improved welfare and training for troops, ensuring that field commanders received the logistical and intelligence support needed to sustain momentum on all fronts.
His administration introduced key reforms in Army logistics, intelligence-led warfare, and human capacity development, initiatives that enhanced operational coordination within the Armed Forces.
He was also instrumental in expanding the Army’s civilmilitary relations framework and in deepening collaboration with the Navy and Air Force, fostering joint operations that improved mission outcomes.
Thus, with his appointment as Chief Defence Staff, President Tinubu is seeking to ensure continuity and stability in the military’s strategic direction.
Major General Waidi Shaibu: Battle-hardened Strategist Takes Command as 25th Chief of Army Staff
A decorated commander and seasoned strategist, Major General Waidi Shaibu brings to the post of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) a blend of operational experience, academic rigour, and unyielding commitment to Nigeria’s sovereignty.
His appointment signals a defining phase in the Nigerian Army’s transformation towards enhanced combat readiness and institutional reform.
Born on 18 December 1971 in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, General Shaibu was admitted into the Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA) in 1989 as part of the 41 Regular Course and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps in 1994.
A mechanical engineer by training, he holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the NDA and multiple advanced degrees, including a Master’s in Strategic Studies (University of Ibadan), a Master’s in Security and Strategic Studies (National Defence University, Washington D.C.), and a Master’s in Public Administration (University of Calabar).
His career trajectory reflects both grit and intellect. He has commanded formations across challenging theatres of operation, from Borno to Yobe, including his tenure as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division and Commander Sector 1, Operation HADIN KAI, Maiduguri. His previous appointments include Chief of Training (Army Headquarters), Brigade Commander (21 Special Armoured Brigade, Bama), and Chief Instructor, Nigerian Army Armour School.
General Shaibu’s leadership has been tested in major operations such as HARMONY, LAFIYA DOLE, HADIN KAI, and DESERT SANITY, earning him the Purple Heart Medal for gallantry. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and has served on peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Sudan.
A Fellow of the Defence College (fdc) and recipient of numerous decorations, including the Distinguished Service Star (DSS) and Meritorious Service Star (MSS), Shaibu is expected to consolidate reforms in the Army, enhance intelligence-led warfare, and deepen synergy in joint operations.
Rear Admiral Idi Abbas: Seaman Scholar Rises as 25th Chief of the Naval Staff
Rear Admiral Idi Abbas, a seasoned Above Water Warfare specialist and career naval officer, assumes office as the 25th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), a role that caps nearly four decades of service defined by discipline, professionalism, and operational excellence.
Born on 20 September 1969 in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, Rear Admiral Abbas began his military journey at the Air Force Military School, Jos, before enrolling in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1987 as part of the 40 Regular Course. He was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in 1993 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry.
An accomplished officer, he has undertaken several specialised and command courses at home and abroad, including the
Officers’ Long Course (OLC XII) at NNS QUORRA and the United Nations Military Observer Course in Tanzania.
A graduate of the National Defence College, Abuja, he holds the prestigious designations of Passed Staff Course (psc) and Fellow Defence College (fdc).
Rear Admiral Abbas’s naval career has been defined by wide-ranging leadership roles. He has commanded key operations and naval bases, including NNS VICTORY, NNS DAMISA, and the Central Naval Command.
His previous appointments include Flag Officer Commanding (CNC), Maritime Guard Commander of NIMASA, and Commander Task Group of Operation TSARE TEKU. He has also served as Chief of Naval Safety and Standards (CNASS) and Chief of Defence Civil-Military Relations (CDCMR) at Defence Headquarters.
His outstanding service record has earned him several honours, including the Forces Service Star (FSS), Distinguished Service Star (DSS), Grand Service Star (GSS), and Defence General Staff Medal (DGSM).
A member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and the International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS), he is respected for his firm leadership and innovative approach to maritime security.
Air Vice Marshal Sunday
Kelvin Aneke: Intellectual Aviator and Strategic Reformer Becomes 23rd Chief of the Air Staff
An accomplished pilot and scholar, Air Vice Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke’s appointment as the 23rd Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) represents a fusion of intellectual rigour and operational excellence. His leadership is expected to propel the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) into a new era of smarter airpower, enhanced mobility, and precision warfare.
Born on 20 February 1972 in Makurdi, Benue State, AVM Aneke hails from Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. A member of the 40th Regular Combatant Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1993. Over the decades, he has distinguished himself as a tactical aviator, strategist, and reform-minded officer.
Aneke holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, and two Master’s Degrees, one in International Affairs and Diplomacy (Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria) and another in Political Economy and Development Studies (University of Abuja).
UNLOCKING NIGERIA’S SOLID MINERALS POTENTIAL...
L-R: Director General, Solid Minerals Development Fund, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi;
Ministry/Legislative Retreat held in Abuja…recently
Wike: APC Not Responsible for PDP Troubles, Blames Opposition Party’s Governors
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja and Boluwatife Enome
The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed claims that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is behind the ongoing crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the opposition’s woes are entirely self-inflicted and
worsened by the impunity of its governors. Speaking during a media parley in Abuja yesterday, Wike described allegations against the APC as “rubbish,” insisting that arrogance, exclusion, and disregard for due process have weakened the once-strong opposition. He condemned the governors for excluding major party stakeholders, including
him from meetings, warning it would be hard for the party to survive.
Wike said, “Have I not said it before now that the booby trap you are setting will consume you? The way these present governors are doing, they will bury this party”.
“Before now, as opposition, we didn't need to act with impunity. Look, I’m an FCT
minister for Christ’s sake, forget about whatever you think.
“Are you telling me as it is today, because I’m not a governor, you go and hold PDP meetings, you call them stakeholders, and then you exclude me, and then you want to survive?
“Look, assuming I’m not even an FCT minister, but the role I played in PDP till
TRIBUTES POUR IN AS ORAMAH STEPS DOWN AS AFREXIMBANK PRESIDENT
powerhouse.
The event, attended by some former and current African heads of state, business leaders, bankers, and global diplomats, saw Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, former Afreximbank presidents Jean-Louis Ekra and Christopher Edordu, incoming President Dr. George Olombi, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene, among others, pay glowing tributes to Oramah’s indelible legacy. Since assuming office in 2015, Oramah presided over what many describe as the most transformative era in Afreximbank’s 30-year history.
Under his stewardship, the bank’s assets grew beyond $30 billion, Afreximbank launched PAPSS to enable local-currency trade, initiated the African Medical Centre of Excellence in Abuja, created CANEX and the Intra-African Trade Fair, and established the AFCFTA Adjustment Fund with $1 billion in seed capital.
Observers said these initiatives redefined Africa’s trade sovereignty and strengthened South–South cooperation, especially between Africa and the Caribbean.
Taking the podium last, Oramah delivered a reflective
and gracious farewell, tracing his 31-year journey with the bank — from joining as a pioneer staffer, to leading it through Africa’s most dynamic trade decade.
“When I joined Afreximbank, I knew I was not entering just another financial institution,” he said. “I was joining a movement aimed at turning Africa’s aspirations into reality.”
He recounted milestones achieved under his tenure, the implementation of AfCFTA, the launch of PAPSS, the IntraAfrican Trade Fair, and the bank’s balance sheet growth from $6 billion to over $40 billion.
“We fought on all fronts,” he said, “because we knew Africa’s economic emancipation could not come from outside. Our development dynamo had to be powered from within.”
Oramah paid tribute to his mentors; the late Dr. Babacar Ndiaye, pioneer president Christopher Edordu, and successor Jean-Louis Ekra, for their trust and guidance, and to the Afreximbank board and staff for their unwavering support.
He closed his speech with quiet humility: “Thank you for allowing me to serve. Thank you for your partnership, friendship, and faith. The relationships
FINALLY, NIGERIA EXITS FATF, GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRIME WATCHLIST
described the development as a milestone which marks a historic moment in Nigeria’s fight against serious financial crimes.
Bakari added that the delisting of Nigeria underscored the country’s commitment to global standards in combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
The FATF, which announced the delisting at its Plenary in Paris, France, yesterday, is the world’s foremost standard-setting body for combating money laundering, terrorist financing
and proliferation financing.
The announcement formally removed Nigeria from the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly referred to as the “grey list”.
Tinubu, in a statement issued by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the development as, “a major milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards economic reform, institutional integrity and global credibility.”
This decision followed Nigeria’s successful and timely completion of its FATF Action
Plan, marking over two years of sustained effort, reform and inter-agency coordination aimed at strengthening the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and CounterFinancing of Terrorism (AML/ CFT) framework.
In February 2023, the FATF placed Nigeria on the grey list. The message from the global community was clear: the nation needed more vigorous enforcement, better coordination, and greater transparency. Rather than treat this as a setback, Nigeria viewed it as a call to action.
The Presidency noted that
under Tinubu’s strategic leadership and in line with the economic transformation agenda of his administration, Nigeria implemented farreaching legal, institutional and operational reforms.
This was achieved through the coordination of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), working in conjunction with the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Interior.
The President applauded the vital support from the
now, simply because I’m not a governor, I cannot be consulted in taking decisions of the party? Certainly not.
“So when you say, let me tell you, and I have told them, just mark it, all this one you are calling APC, calling this and that, rubbish. Is it the APC that is making you take the wrong decision?
"You mean I will sit and then two, three people said
we have built and the bonds we have forged will remain permanent threads in the tapestry of our lives.”
In one of the night’s most heartfelt moments, Oramah’s wife, Mrs. Chinelo Oramah, moved the audience to tears as she spoke about the personal side of the Afreximbank journey.
“One time he fell sick, and the bank rallied around us,” she recalled. “The concern of the board, management, and staff—and the care that was provided—saved his life. That kind of support transcends employment. It is family. It is love. It is humanity at its finest,” she added.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Minister of Aviation, the Minister for Budget and Economic Planning, the Minister for Defence, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Solid Minerals, the Minister of State for Finance, the National Security Adviser as well as the leadership of the National Assembly and the Judiciary, in the attainment of the laudable achievement.
Tinubu commended the Director/Chief Executive Officer of the NFIU, Ms Bakari, and the staff for their diligence in ensuring
because they are governors, they get too much allocation. Then you go and decide, and then you tell me, follow, follow who?
“When we were governors, why was it that no governor left? You see that we didn’t have problems? We fought to the chairman of the party. We’ve gone to the Supreme Court. You know that is why people didn’t leave.
She thanked Afreximbank for investing not just in her husband but in their entire family’s well-being and future. “If not for this institution, my children would not have had access to the best education and opportunities,” she said. Expressing appreciation to the Afreximbank Spouses Network, she said, “You created a community where we could share joys, navigate challenges, and support one another. The strength you gave me enabled me to be the pillar my husband needed.”
the complete and timely implementation of the country’s Action Plan. He noted that the NFIU’s work has led to the recognition by the international community of the strides Nigeria has made in strengthening its measures to tackle serious crimes.
“Without their dedication and sacrifice, today’s success could not have been achieved. I thank them for their efforts and urge other stakeholders to emulate their standards”, the President said.
Senator representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan; Ekong Sampson and Kelvin Chukwu, at the Solid Minerals
National Assembly Targets Year-end Delivery of Constitution Amendments
Barau rallies lawmakers to fast-track reforms
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Sunday Ehigiator in Lagos
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, yesterday declared that the National Assembly is determined to deliver the first set of amendments to the 1999 Constitution before the end of this year, in what he described as a people-centred and time-bound reform effort.
Barau, who chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, according to a statement by his Media Office, stated this while
addressing lawmakers at the opening of a two-day joint retreat of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Constitution Review in Lagos.
The session, he said, marked a crucial stage in the ongoing constitutional amendment process that has so far attracted broad national participation.
According to him, the committees will consider 69 bills, 55 state creation requests, two boundary adjustment proposals, and 278 local government creation demands during the retreat.
He stressed that the
753 Housing Units: Witness Fails to Link Emefiele to Zenith Bank Accounts
A witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday, failed to link the immediate former Governor of theCentral Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to accounts in Zenith Bank in the alleged property fraud trial.
Emefiele is standing trial before Justice Halilu Yusuf of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, on allegations bordering on property fraud, amongst others.
The said property measuring 150,462.86 SQM, comprises 753 housing units and is located on Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Abuja.
Emefiele and one Eric Ocheme, said to be at
large, are also charged with unlawfully holding billions of naira in proxy accounts at Zenith Bank.
When the matter came up on yesterday, prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, led the 1st Prosecution Witness (PW1), Mshelia Arhyel, to give his evidence in the matter.
The witness, who is a Compliance Officer at Zenith Bank, informed the court on how funds were received and deposited into the accounts of three companies, which he listed as; MG Properties Limited, Ifedigo Integrated Services and Kelvito Integrated Services. Arhyel also gave the names of cash depositors and transfer recipients, such as Chukwuma Opara, Peters Adebayo, and Wilson.
exercise is designed to allow clause-by-clause scrutiny of all proposed amendments to ensure credibility, inclusiveness, and transparency.
Barau said, “It has been a long journey to bring the Senate and the House of Representatives’ amendment proposals together.
“We have been at this for two years, engaging citizens, stakeholders, and institutions
in town halls, public hearings, and consultations.
“The views harvested have culminated in the 69 bills and hundreds of requests now before us,” he added.
The Deputy Senate President, who also serves as the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, urged members to rise above partisan, ethnic, and religious sentiments and work with unity of purpose in the
interest of the Nigerian people.
He said, “It is not going to be a simple task to conclude within two days, but I believe we can achieve it.
“We have made a promise to Nigerians that we will deliver the first set of amendments to the State Houses of Assembly before the end of this year. If we engage the issues with open minds, we can deliver,” he
said.
Barau emphasised that the constitution remains the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy and must be treated with patriotism and a sense of national duty. He warned against competitive debates between the Senate and House committees, calling instead for joint deliberations guided by a common goal of national advancement.
Judges Are Not Members of Secret Cults, Says Supreme Court Justice, Agim
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
Supreme Court Justice, Emmanuel Agim, has said that judges do not belong to secret cults, insisting that integrity and godly conscience remain the bedrock of the judiciary.
Agim stated this yesterday in Abuja at the Legacy Dialogue 2.0 organised by the Johnny Agim SAN (JASAN) Foundation in Abuja, with
the theme ‘Institutionalisation of Mentorship in the Legal Profession: A Strategic Blueprint for Professional Development’.
Agim said he found it absurd when people accused judges of belonging to cults.
He, however, lamented what he described as the erosion of character and professional integrity in today’s legal practice.
Agim said, “I have a
conscience. Otherwise, I should not be going to Holy Trinity Parish or even praying if I don't have a conscience. God is my protection, my fortress and my refuge. You cannot be evil and expect God to be all of that to you.
“But whenever I say this, a friend of mine would say, ‘I thought they said you (justices) all belong to cults.’
It is not so. We are ordinary human beings," he stated.
“When I was a lawyer, we had cases already settled by law and you knew what your opposing counsel would say. But today, people go to court to win, not to get justice.
“Poor readership, poor knowledge of law - that’s our problem today. Some lawyers hold judgements in their hands but don’t read them. They go on television to spew ignorance so loudly and with audacity. It is a shame.”
Nigerian Lawyer Sues US-based Fintech for Unauthorised Data Disclosure
Wale Igbintade
A Lagos-based lawyer, Miss Odunola Kehinde, has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against US-based financial technology company, Vesti Technology Solutions Inc., over the alleged unauthorised disclosure of her
financial transactions on social media.
Through her counsel, Olumide Babalola, Esq., Kehinde is asking the Federal High Court in Lagos to declare that the fintech firm’s actions violated her constitutional right to privacy and the provisions of the
Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
She is also seeking N100 million in general damages and a mandatory injunction requiring Vesti to delete the offending post from its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, @VestiOfficial.
In a 17-paragraph affidavit,
Kehinde stated that she is a registered user of Vesti Technology Solutions, with account number VYS2085862. She explained that the company, headquartered at 1701 S. Bowen Road, Suite 450, Arlington, Texas, provides digital financial services to Nigerian users.
Alex Enumah in Abuja
Lasaco
Rilwan Oshinusi; Director, Biodun Dosunmu; Executive Director (Technical), Ademoye Shobo; Director, Ademola Oshodi; Company Secretary, Gertrude Olutekunbi; Chairman, Mrs. Teju Phillips; Managing Director/CEO, Razzaq Abiodun; Director, Fola Tinubu; and Director, Oluwatobiloba Lawal, during the company’s 45th Annual General Meeting held in Lagos… yesterday
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD....
Nnamdi Kanu Fails to Open Defence in Alleged Terrorism Trial, Citing Non-possession of Case File
As court grants, brother, lawyer, others bail Sowore re-arrested Wike: only court can summon me to appear as witness in Kanu's trial
Detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, yesterday failed to open his defense in the alleged terrorism charge brought against him by the federal government.
Also, a Magistrate Court sitting in Kuje, Abuja, has
admitted to bail Kanu's brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, a lawyer in Kanu's defense team, Mr. Aloy Ejimakor, and 11 others arrested on Monday in Abuja, during the #freeNnamdiKanuNow protest.
Admitted also to bail was human rights activist and publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, arrested on Thursday during Kanu's trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja. However, Sowore was rearrested by police at the premises of the Kuje Magistrate before he could perfect his bail conditions.
Obasanjo: El-Rufai Lacked Maturity to Succeed Me in 2007
Sunday Ehigiator
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that he declined the suggestion to support former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as his successor in 2007, citing what he described as El-Rufai’s lack of maturity at the time.
Obasanjo made the disclosure in Abeokuta, Ogun State, yesterday, during the second edition of the Ajibosin
Platform annual symposium, which had as its theme, “Importance of Leadership in Governance.”
Obasanjo in 2007, supported the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who succeeded him. According to him, the recommendation for El-Rufai to take over the presidency came from former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, but he rejected the proposal on the grounds that the former
FCT minister was “not yet ready” for the responsibility.
Obasanjo, while speaking, taunted Chidoka for omitting the El-Rufai story, saying, “Let him tell you. He didn’t mention that. He was pushing when I was leaving government that his friend, El-Rufai, should be brought in as my successor.
Furthermore, Obasanjo asked Chidoka, “No be so?,” and Chidoka nodded his head
in agreement. Continuing, Obasanjo said: “I did not yield to the pressure. Later, he said, ‘I suggested this person, why didn’t you agree?’ I said El-Rufai needed to mature. You remember? When I left the government and, many years later, he saw the performances of El-Rufai, he came back to me and said, ‘You’re absolutely correct. El-Rufai needed to mature.’”
Access Holdings Records N2.5trn Gross
Access Holdings Plc yesterday, announced its half-year audited financial results for the period ended June 30, 2025 (H1 2025).
In a statement yesterday, the Group’s gross earnings increased by 13.8 percent year-on-year to N2.5 trillion in H1 2025 from N2.2 trillion in H1 2024, while its profit before tax (PBT) dipped by 8.1 percent to N320.574
N320 Billion PBT in First Half
billion in the review period, compared with N348.922 billion in the comparable period of 2024.
Similarly, Access Holdings profit after tax dropped by 23.3 percent, from N281.327 billion as at H1 2024, to N215.916 billion.
In the statement signed by Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi, Access Holdings stated that the results reflected
the resilience of its business model, the diversification of its revenue streams, and the steady progress to the execution of our five-year strategic plan.
It attributed the gross earnings growth to the strong growth it recorded in interest income which increased by 38.9 percent year-on-year, to N2 trillion, from N1.5 billion in H1 2024.
In addition, its net interest income also increased by 91.8 percent year-on-year to N984.6 billion in H1 2025 from N513.4 billion in H1 2024.
Complementing this performance was a growth in net fees and commission income, which increased by 16.1 percent year-on-year to N237.7billion in H1 2025 from N204.7 billion in H1 2024.
LASAA Staff Faces Sanctions for Policy Breach after Viral Allegation, Cleared of Fraud
The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) has announced that an internal investigation has cleared a staff member of a fraudulent transaction allegation that recently went viral on social media. However, the employee will still face disciplinary action for violating the agency's strict 'no cash' policy and
using a personal account for a transaction.
The controversy, according to a statement from the agency, began with a social media post alleging that LASAA staffer,
Olukayode John Adetifa, had improperly collected N45,000 from a client, MJ Beauty Salon, via his personal Opay account but only issued a receipt for N7,100.
This was as Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, said he would only appear as witness in the trial of the leader of IPOB, Kanu, if he is subpoenaed by the court.
A civil society organisation (CSO) operating under the banner of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has condemned the re-arrest Sowore, saying the Police Force’s justification for the apprehension of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election,
Sowore, for leading a freedom protest is both troubling and legally untenable. Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, had on Thursday adjourned to Friday to enable Kanu, who had at Thursday's proceedings sacked his entire legal team, to open his defense. At the resumed hearing yesterday, Kanu who entered the dock with a bundle of documents announced appearance for himself and thereafter told Justice Omotosho that his legal team sacked on October 23, are yet to release the case file to him. He said he was constrained to ask for an adjournment to enable him to get the case file and study it to be able to prepare fully for his defense.
Introduces Smart Safety Platform for Homes, Estates
Sunday Ehigiator
Limestone, a leading Nigerian technology solutions provider focused on transforming community management and personal security, has launched StoneCircle, its flagship consumer product designed to revolutionise how individuals and communities stay safe and connected.
The new product was unveiled recently in Lagos, with key company executives, including the Managing Director of Lights on Heights Holding Limited, Ifeanyi Aneke; Programme Coordinator for Marketing and Sales, Amaka Ezekwesili, and Product Managers at Limestone, Abigael Temidayo Oluwagbemiro and Adewale Adepoju, in attendance.
Positioned within Limestone’s integrated technology ecosystem, StoneCircle operates alongside Stone Community, a platform that supports estate managers, developers, and resident associations, and Stone Security, which provides enterprise-grade hardware integrations and monitoring solutions for estates, businesses, and institutions.
Together, the three platforms form a unified operating system for modern communities, merging personal safety, estate operations, and institutional protection. Speaking at the launch, Aneke said: “StoneCircle comes at a critical time when the need for accessible, reliable safety solutions in Nigeria has never been greater.
Alex Enumah, Linus Aleke and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Abiodun Olumide (left), being presented with a Special Recognition Award for contributing to the growth of the real estate industry by Founder/ Chief Executive Officer, Thinkmint Nigeria, Mrs. Imeida Usoro Olaoye at the Real Estate Discussions and Awards 2025, held in Lagos... recently
Zamfara Governor to Tinubu: Remember Jonathan Had 29 Governors Supporting Him in 2015
Urges president not to be carried away by wave of defections
The Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, yesterday, advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to be carried away by the wave of governors defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying having more governors in a political party will not guarantee victory for the President in 2027.
Governor Lawal, who is the PDP's National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) subCommittee Chairman on Accommodation, also dismissed the opposition of the North-west zone against the adoption of Tanimu Turaki as the consensus national chairman of the PDP.
not to be carried away by the wave of defections from the PDP to the APC.
He said, '' Let me say this. The only thing that is constant and permanent is change.
Speaking yesterday after the inauguration of the Accreditation Committee of the Convention, of which he is the Chairman, Lawal warned President Tinubu
''Let me take you back to history. In 2015, when PDP had over 29 to 30 governors, what happened at the end of the day? I'm sure you'll be the judge. So as I said, no shaking, no alarm.''
In dismissing the opposition to the emergence of Turaki as the Northern consensus
for the office of the national chairman, the Zamfara State governor said, ''Well, I don't think that should be something we should be concerned about, because in politics, it's about give and take. No matter who is selected, there will always be agitation from the other members.
''It's normal. It is something that is internal and we are working on making sure everybody is on board so that we can have a very
successful conference.''
On the convention and arrangement to ensure everything went on smoothly, Lawal said, '' If you listened to my speech, I made it very clear that this committee is the engine room of a successful convention of our great party. And somebody from the public also asked this question, whether arrangements were made?
I made it very clear to him that arrangements are in place.
''People will be transported from their regions all the way to Ibadan. And I also guarantee that everybody will be accommodated. Anyway, the whole essence of this committee is to work on the logistics.
''So we have just started and I'm sure there will not be any major issue. There may be issues, but there will be no major issue. And we will have a very successful convention in November, by the grace of Allah.''
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
dangerous...
The Growing Tide of Youth Migration
In Praise of President Buhari
A Worthy Administrator
IWhen President Muhammadu Buhari took over the reins of power on May 29, 2015, Nigeria was sadly a broken state in many respects. As a result of many other factors including bad governance and untold level of corruption, government could not live up to its financial obligations to citizens and service providers at both the federal and state levels.
Indeed one of the first official assignments that President Buhari carried out was the approval of billions of Naira in bailout funds to enable state governors pay something as basic as workers’ salaries. Granting those bailout funds was a huge boost to national security because the pressure of arrears of unpaid monthly salaries building dangerously all over the country was a ticking bomb.
Ask the naysayers and they would readily remind you of how long it took President Buhari to appoint his ministers and how that contributed to collapse of the economy as if, without ministers, governance was frozen. But buying that narrative would amount to what a famous Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie, termed “the danger of a single story”. Yet the whole story was that many of our citizens did not know how decrepit a state President Buhari inherited in 2015.
It was therefore necessary for him to take stock against the background of the fact that the departing government did not, reportedly, cooperate full well with the incoming government in terms of leaving workable handover notes. Although President Goodluck Jonathan was gracious in defeat, many of his appointees were still sulking over what they saw as their personal losses and therefore pulled all the stops to make things difficult for the Buhari government.
n recent years, youth migration has become one of the most pressing social and economic issues across West Africa. From Nigeria to Senegal, thousands of young people are leaving their home countries in search of better opportunities abroad. The exodus is largely fueled by high unemployment rates, political instability, and limited educational prospects. Many youths believe that migration is their only ticket to a better life, often overlooking the risks associated with irregular migration routes. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), West Africa remains one of the most active migration corridors globally, with young men and women constituting the majority of migrants.
The social consequences of youth migration are equally significant. Families are often left broken, with parents grieving the loss or disappearance of their children. In rural communities, the absence of young people has reduced agricultural productivity and disrupted local economies. Moreover, the emotional toll on families—especially mothers—cannot be understated. They live with constant anxiety, unsure whether their loved ones will survive the perilous journey or fall victim to human trafficking networks that prey on desperate migrants. The impact extends beyond households, influencing the social fabric of entire communities.
Amina
by the EFCC, President Buhari by his action has successfully brought back to the public consciousness the need to treat public funds with the highest level of transparency and accountability.
DAfter keeping treasury looters on their toes and at bay through the EFCC, particularly, President Buhari moved to curb unnecessary spending habits of the nation on what economists call articles of ostentation. Part of the disclosures of the President’s stock taking was how the country frittered away billions in foreign currency by importing goods, which can be produced at home. One of such items was rice, a major staple among Nigerians. By banning rice importation into the country, the President on one hand had saved the nation billions in foreign currency annually.
And, on the other hand, the President has boosted domestic production of rice and in the process had nudged the country into self sufficiency in food production. He also created millions of jobs for young people in the rice value chain.
Stop Ritual Attacks and Killings
The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) urges the Nigerian public to stop ritual attacks and killings because the notion of ritual money and wealth is completely baseless. AfAW is making this call following the reported arrest of suspected ritualists in Oyo State in southern Nigeria. The local media reported that members of the Western Nigeria Security Network, Amotekun, arrested suspected ritualists with the body parts of a 73-year-old man.
r. Yakubu Ahmed Ubangari ( Kauran Eggon) is the current Director General of Nasarawa State Market Management Bureau. After assuming office, he swung into action by ameliorating the challenges facing the traders in Nasarawa State by enforcing the laws against illegal trading activities including smuggling, counterfeits and banned goods. He is also doing everything possible to protect consumers interest by ensuring goods meet international standards. He takes action against violations of intellectual property rights, particularly in the market place.
What is most admirable about President Buhari and his government is its frugal management of scarce national resources to attain optimum goals.
Recall that since President Buhari stepped in the saddle, oil revenue dropped abysmally as if to sabotage him knowing all the big promises he made to citizens during his campaigns. But with the little resources that trickle in, the President is achieving what governments that received oil windfalls could not dream of.
Audu Ado, Kashim Ibrahim University, Maiduguri
Even with the obvious and unpatriotic obscurantist behaviour of the PDP appointees and their supporters still in government hell-bent on making things difficult for Buhari, the President moved on with his methodical repair of a broken country. The first thing he did was to identify all possible sources of income to the nation and directed that all inflows be paid into one single account in line with the policy of Single Treasury Account (TSA).
The TSA policy, interestingly, was mooted by the PDP government but its penchant for imprudence and lack of accountability denied it the courage of implementing the policy. What the President literally did was to gather all the nation’s money into one box and locked it up with a big padlock and watched for any thief to come close.
Who can blame the President for almost developing paranoia over the safeguard of the national treasury with revelations and reports of mind-boggling looting that took place in the 16 years of the PDP? With such disclosures of how billions meant for fighting insurgency in the Northeast ended up in the pockets of a few individuals while our gallant soldiers fought with bare hands and on empty stomach, President Buhari was duty bound to bring sanity and accountability back in national spending.
The phenomenon is not just about physical movement—it reflects deep-rooted socio-economic imbalances in the region. Governments have failed to create sustainable employment opportunities, leaving young graduates disillusioned and desperate. In many cases, the dream of a prosperous future has been replaced with frustration, prompting many to embark on dangerous journeys through the Sahara Desert and across the Mediterranean Sea. These routes are often controlled by smugglers and traffickers who exploit the vulnerability of migrants. Tragically, countless lives have been lost in the process, turning what was once a dream into a recurring regional nightmare.
Thus, under President Buhari, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had remained comatose for years, was woken up to resume its duties. Apart from the trillions of Naira of looted funds and property recovered from corrupt politicians
Today, the trains are up and running daily from Abuja to Kaduna. And from Lagos to Ibadan a brand new rail track was started and completed; citizens are already commuting daily to and fro these two major cities in the country seamlessly as they reap from the dividends of democracy. And with the way this government is going, before 2023 when the President would leave, the entire country would be linked by rail with all of its economic advantages.
Ainofenokhai Ojeifo, Abuja
THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER
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Yakubu Ubangari conducts specialised inspections related to quality measurements, price and food safety. He builds database on counterfeits goods and provides information to business and consumers on prevention, and works with other authorities, professional associations and enterprises to facilitate effective enforcement and inspections. Ubangari conducts research to understand the consumer needs, market trends, competitor’s activities and business opportunities, develops and implements comprehensive marketing strategies and plans to achieve business goals such as increasing sales or brand awareness. He oversees product development and ensures product quality. He plans and manages marketing campaigns, advertising, sales promotion and digital marketing efforts (like social media and email marking).
Anjorin Adeolu, Lafia, Nasarawa State
Hot Desk Venue or Hot Dance Venue?
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The suspects, who were apprehended in the Boluwaji area in Ibadan, said that a Muslim cleric asked them to procure some human body parts for rituals. Ritual attacks are widespread in Nigeria. Irrational conceptions of how to make money or become wealthy and successful undergird these atrocities. Many Nigerians strongly believe in blood money, known in some local languages as Ogun Owo (Yoruba) or Ogwu ego (Igbo). They think that they could become rich, or successful through ritual sacrifice. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Ritual wealth has no basis in reason, science, or reality. Home movies known as Africa magic or Nollywood films have not helped matters. These movies continue to reinforce these mistaken notions and other superstitions. Families, churches, mosques, and other public institutions do not encourage the interrogation of these traditional occult beliefs. There are no robust efforts to criticize or dispel these irrational and paranormal claims in schools, colleges, and universities. So millions of Nigerians grow up blindly believing that they could make money through ritual sacrifice of human body parts. The belief has led many Nigerians to commit crimes and perpetrate atrocities. Many Nigerians have been jailed or are undergoing court trials due to ritualrelated attacks and murder.
ith the remodelling/destruction of the East Wing of the White House there are still some questions to be considered.
The East Wing has mostly served as office space and facilities for the First Lady but where will this work happen now? The current First Lady, Mrs Trump, hasn’t generally been as active in this role as some of her predecessors so a new office space isn’t an urgent concern.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia
Not too long ago, the police arrested some young Nigerians for stealing female pants, which they intended to use for ritual sacrifice. AfAW is asking all Nigerians to desist from ritual-related abuses because ritual money beliefs are baseless superstitions. Nigerian media, schools, and colleges should help educate and reorient the public. They should assist in reasoning Nigerians out of this killer-superstitious absurdity and nonsense. Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW)
Scooping fuel is
AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2025
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Abimbola Olashore: As Kids, We Used to Sit on NTA’s Floor for Tales By Moonlight
The Chief Executive Officer of Lead Capital Limited, Mr. Abimbola Olashore, who is also the President of Council of the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce, takes a nostalgic look at his childhood and life lessons in this engaging conversation. Reminiscing about growing up in a close-knit community where children gath- ered on the floor for Tales by Moonlight, he reflects on how those formative years shaped his values and worldview. Now older and wiser, Olashore, who is also an educationist, co-founder of Olashore International School and farmer, admits that if given another chance, he would have been more deliberate about his ap- proach to money, health, and life. His reflections offer a mix of cultural nostalgia and practical wisdom for younger generations striving for balance and purpose. Dike Onwuamaeze brings the excerpts:
Share with us some recollections of your childhood memories?
I am a product of the 1960s and 1970s. I was born in the sixties and my formative years in the seventies when I think that we enjoyed the best of Nigeria. I was born in Kano in the northern Nigeria and we moved to Lagos in the southern Nigerian in 1967. I am one of those people that were born in one part of the country but grew up in a different part of the country. My family still has extensive roots in the north. I grow up in the seventies in a normal middleclass upbringing. My mother was a teacher and my dad was an accountant and was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). I attended all my primary and secondary schools in Lagos.
With your childhood years spent in both the northern southern parts of the country, how do see the current centrifugal forces blowing across the country?
It is just a bit unfortunate that we have mismanaged our diversity. We have truly mismanaged our federalism. I am one of those lucky people in the sense that we grew up not knowing the difference between the north and south and everybody was your friend. Social forces did not differentiate between religion
and ethnicity. When I look back at my career in banking, I was fortunate that it took me to every part of Nigeria when we went about visiting customers. We will take a number of days and take off from Lagos, and we will drive to Benin, Asaba, Onitsha, and all the way to Aba and to Port Harcourt by road to see our customers. In those days, you can fly to Abuja and drive to Jos to see customers, and from there you go to Zaria and then to Kano all by road without thinking that any part of the country was not your terrain. But unfortunately, now, I have a lot of friends who live in Lagos and have never left Lagos. How can those people think that they will manage Nigeria when they have not been around Nigeria? They are influenced by what they read online and what people tell them on social media. And unfortunately, that form of information is so pervasive, but it is forming peoples’ opinion of other parts of the country. We have totally mismanaged the strength we should have had in diversity to such an extent that everybody has a distrust of other people. And if an individual does you wrong, you ascribe it to his or her tribe. When I look at my own experience, the people who have been most influential in my life, and have been very consequential in my career and my progress, are not even from my ethnic stock. That is why I kept on saying that we have totally, totally mismanaged our diversity and what that should be a source of strength is now
a source of disunity.
What do you consider to be the fondest part of your childhood memories?
I think that it is probably more of the carefree attitude. We grew up in an environment that was very safe and very serene, and highly structured. Those were the days when television did not start until probably 4p.m or 6p.m. What I remember mostly is that we were living in Victoria Island and the NTA station is on Ahmadu Bello Way, which was a stone’s throw away. So, we were the kids who used to form the fulcrum of their programming between 4 to 6 p.m. We were the ones sitting on the floor for Tales at Moon Light , or the ones who will do the quiz show, or were the audience. For us, it was very enlightening, and I used to enjoy it especially the quiz shows. It was also part of our education because children’s programme then was quite educating. It complemented whatever we were learning in schools. It also gave us exposure.
How did your early education in Lagos shape your worldview and academic curiosity?
Interestingly, I went to St. Gregory College, which is a first-class school. When I entered St. Gregory College, it was still run by the
Abimbola Olashore: With What I Know Now, I’ld Have Been More Intentional About Money, Health, Life
Catholic Church. It was in the middle of my stay in college that the government took over the school. so I can tell you the remarkable difference when it was run by the Catholic Church and the government. the school used to end with what we called the afternoon lunch. What we ate for lunch in school was probably better than what we would eat at home. Going to a school like st. Gregory College, obviously, gave you, in addition to what your family will give to you in terms of moral background, also formed our moral boundaries of what is right and what is wrong. We went to school, which starts shaping how we should behave. Behaviour, respect and all things like that were drummed into you. the moral rules that you should not steal, you should not tell lies were beaten into us at a very young age. even when I went to the united Kingdom for my a’ Levels and university education, I loved to think that my essence has already been formed even by then. I remember that I was relatively young when I had to go abroad, and the debate was whether I was too young to go and abroad and be in a boarding school on my own at the age of 15. But I think that my early experiences have shaped one for that transition in a foreign land.
What was it like leaving Nigeria at that tender age to go to the United Kingdom? a lot of things are quite fortuitous. the school I went to in the uK, one of my dad’s closest friends had his son in the school. I went to a school that was already established in the uK with a track record of Nigerians going there. I never saw things like racism because I went to a very receptive environment. so, I felt at home, but coping with the weather was my first major challenge. I was also lucky that my mum, who was visiting me, and I could communicate with my parents on the phone almost every day if I wished. so I never felt that I am that far away from home.
Did you experience any counter culture or culture shock?
Oh, yes! Certainly, there was a difference. Nigeria’s culture and upbringing of a child is totally different from British culture. the first one I could not understand was the way kids were calling their parents by their first names. How dare you do that in Nigeria? But because they call older people by their first names does not mean that they do not respect them. respect comes in many different ways.
In your academic career, you studied engineering and also accountancy. To many people, these two courses are far apart. Why did you go for these courses?
How it happened was a very interesting story. I was a science student when I was in st. Gregory College. I was good at Mathematics, physics, Chemistry, and pure Mathematics. In those days, if you are good at sciences and also good at Biology, then you should be a medical doctor and if you good in physics, mathematics, then you should be an engineer. But it was also obvious to me what my natural bent was. In my first shot at JaMB, I put accountancy as my first choice and engineering for my second choice. It was because I loved Mathematics and accountancy related more to my mathematical background. I was offered admission to study at the university of Ilorin, but the school said that I was too young. and that was how I went to england. But my friends who stayed behind in Nigeria were writing JaMB and were being offered admission into the universities, while I was abroad doing a-Levels. so, I wrote JaMB again, but this time I flipped it around and had engineering as my first choice and accountancy as my second choice. I passed JaMB and was given admission at the university of Lagos to study engineering. But my dad persuaded me to continue with my a-Levels and I obeyed him. I finished my a-levels and was given admission to study electronic engineering in the uK. that put paid to accountancy at that time. Could you believe it that I spent four years studying engineering, but I told everybody that I did not enjoy it and I did not like it at all! I always felt that I was someone who could reason but I was not very good with my hands. as someone doing electronic engineering, part of my practical was always to build circuit boards and soldering irons. I could design, but when it comes to building, I had a problem. In my final year, I did robotics as my specialty. I picked robotics because it was purely academic at that time, and I did not have
to build anything. all I did was write programs to control robots, satellites etc. By the time I finished engineering I made up my mind that I do not want to be an engineer. I was part of a number of career talks in the uK and I felt that the career path for engineers in the uK was quite limiting. By the time I started doing my career tours and went to rolls-royce, they would take us to their warehouse, their engineering centre and my question was always: why not take us to your headquarters and let the managing director address us? But I also noticed that the managing directors of these engineering firms were not engineers but accountants or people who studied classics, sales and marketing, while the engineers were at the engineering centre that was probably 200 miles away from the head office. so, I was getting a bit disillusioned because I have already made the decision that in my career path there must be a way to the top. so, by the time I graduated I sold all my engineering books. I told myself that I am done with this engineering. Let me now do a course that can lead me to the boardroom and to the top. My thought then was to switch and do statistics. But this is where life plays fortunate or unfortunate role in our destiny path. I came back to Nigeria in the summer to do my NysC programme. I had already been taken at the Nigerian television authority (Nta) because I did electronic engineering. But that was when my dad lost his job as Managing director of First Bank of Nigeria. so, I had to travel to the uK to do one or two things for him. By the time I came back, the NysC camp had started, and they refused me to join that batch because I arrived one week late and had missed the registration. that was when Nigeria had rules. so I complied and came back home. By that time, my dad had started his consultancy firm, which was the precursor of the Lead Merchant Bank. those few months I was hanging with him in his consultancy office, and one of his partners, Mr. Njoku who came from the Nigerian stock exchange, started telling me about the stock market. I now changed my mind that I want to become an accountant. I later joined the NysC’s second batch and when I finished worked with deloitte. I spent three years there and became a chartered accountant. I always tell people that some of us enjoyed Nigeria. the time I finished was the banking boom and once you are a chartered accountant, you will enter a bank as an officer of assistant manager. I was also lucky that I on some prizes in ICaN and
people wanted an ICaN prize winner, I joined the Lead Merchant Bank, which was founded by my dad, and my natural gravitation was toward the capital market and corporate finance. that was why my career was in corporate finance and investment banking.
How was it like starting life as a banker? there was a banking boom. Government policies also shaped opportunities. In the early 1990s, they started privatisation. this was also followed with capital increase for banks. all of a sudden, there were lot of opportunities and transactions were going on. We were a merchant bank, and we had Njoku who came from the stock exchange. so, we naturally started bidding for those kinds of works. Obviously, my dad was well known in banking, and we started getting mandates and started making our reputation. so, I was right at the heart of the boom which shaped ones experiences and made me knowledgeable about capital raising, balance sheet. When I began my career in banking, I really rode a wave of opportunities and was able to take advantage of them. It was also a time when the market was developing and we were also in the forefront of market development with new things happening in the marketplace. When you are at the heart of such momentous changes in an environment and you are at the forefront of it, naturally you will almost become an expert and will be well known. you will be invited to do position papers and I think that was what probably raised my reputation more during that period.
You have been in the banking industry since the 1990s. What have changed in that sub-sector?
I will not comment. I left banking almost 20years ago
What does it mean to be a banker then and now ...?
It is different from now. From what I see when I speak with my banking colleagues now is that we had a lot of latitude to take initiatives. even as a bank managing director you could take an initiative then. It is not like this current environment that is so heavily regulated to such an extent that everything is rules. But how do you advance knowledge if you do not use initiative? It is initiatives that enable you to explore new opportunities. Now, only “a” or “B” are the options.
Bur we had a bit more latitude for creativity. the relationship with the regulator was much more cordial in the past even though they were our bosses. you could walk into their offices and sit down and discuss your problems. today, if you tell your regulator that you are having a problem, you will get a fine. the regulators used to have listening ears. When you send your returns they will go through it and call you to explain some aspects in your return. But we get this feeling today that it is more of master-servant relationship and I wonder what happened. I tell current bank managing directors that you guys are not having fun at all. you are just being summoned left, right and centre. there are summons everyday even from National assembly’s committees and you can imagine that layer of oversight. I never appeared before any senate committee. today, managing director’s job is more of government relations and managing that aspect rather than focusing on innovations. How do you fund new industries, sMes, innovations, entrepreneurs if everything is by the rule because most entrepreneurs will never pass the test? He has no collateral. He has no contribution. He only has an idea. Can I fund him if I am to go by the rules? I tell everybody that we have lost an aspect of entrepreneurial banking. the banks we had in the 1990s and early 2000 were set up by entrepreneurs and had entrepreneurial mindset that could see other entrepreneurs in other industries and give them money. Where is the discretion if I cannot lend without collateral? Before, integrity and name were collateral but today they are intangible.
How do you unwind during weekends? I spent my middle years probably not too much on unwinding. But God has given me the opportunity to be able to retire from banking and to spend more time on other things that are also important for a balanced life. I tell people to always balance their social, religious and work lives. I play the game of golf at every opportunity I have. I was introduced to it in the 1990s but I never played it. I used to tell myself that I do not have time for this. But as I was getting toward the end of my career I started picking it up and realised that it is probably the best way to unwind. For three four hours you can be there on your own thinking about your own life. you can also be there with people you have the same shared interest and be discussing in a relaxed atmosphere without social pressure. What else is better than that?
What advice could you have given to yourself when you were 25 years?
It is to be a bit more intentional. I think that I have been careless in some areas of life. I shake my head sometimes when I look at the opportunities that I have had. With what that I have known now, I should be a little more careful with money and even with investment. But I always tell people to make some mistakes when they are young because there is enough time for them to recover. I will also be more intentional about my health. I was very careless in the first 40 years of my life when I was not playing any sports.
You have just assumed office as the President of NBCC. Sir, what are we going to see during your tenure?
I am quite happy and proud to be elected the 19th president of NBCC. Our role is well cut out, which is facilitating trade between Nigeria and the united Kingdom (uK) and to build on what that have been already achieved. Obviously, I am hoping that my tenure will be characterised by further deepening of that trade. We believe that there is a lot more that we can do with that facilitation. We are also looking at how we can open up our branch in London to have memberships in London for a proper cross-fertilisation of ideas. We have opened our trade centre, which is a one stop-shop for information on anything concerning trade between Nigeria and the uK. I do believe that we should make our advocacy a bit more forceful and that our voice must be heard by both regulators and governments on both sides. so that the opinion we give, which is a reflective of the opinion of our members, is well listened to. I am also coming into office at a time when the uK has a renewed interest on Nigeria and is very keen at building a trade between Nigeria and uK, which informed the uK enhanced partnership agreement that gives quota free, tariff free export duty to uK.
Olashore
Amaka Okeke:
Rest, Movement, Mindfulness Keep Me Balanced
In a world defined by ambition and constant motion, the Executive Director of Business Development at Optiva Capital Partners, Amb. Amaka Okeke, has mastered the art of balance. For her, rest, movement, and mindfulness are not luxuries but essentials that keep her grounded amid the demands of leading Africa’s foremost investment immigration and wealth advisory firm. Over the past 12 years, Okeke has not only built a distinguished career but also transformed countless lives by helping families secure global access and opportunity. Sunday Ehigiator brings the excerpts of the conversation
In the dynamic world of wealth retention and investment immigration, few names resonate with such impact and grace as Amb. Amaka Okeke, the Executive Director of Business Development at Optiva Capital Partners. This October marks a remarkable milestone: Twelve years of her outstanding service, dedication, and visionary leadership at Africa’s leading investment immigration firm.
Her story is one of resilience, innovation, and an unflinching belief in excellence. From her early days as a relationship management executive to her current role on the Board and Executive Committee of Optiva Capital Partners, Okeke has been instrumental in shaping not just the company’s growth trajectory, but the very face of investment immigration and wealth retention advisory services in Nigeria and across Africa.
In a message, Chairman, Optiva Capital Partners, Mr. Franklin Nechi, paid glowing tribute to the woman he described as “a visionary leader of unparalleled calibre.”
“We commemorate a remarkable milestone –the 12-year anniversary of Amb. Amaka Okeke’s unwavering dedication to Optiva Capital Partners. She has been the embodiment of excellence, leadership, and unrelenting commitment to our mission,” said Nechi.
“Her strategic vision and passion for excellence have been instrumental in driving our company’s success. Under her stewardship, Optiva has continued to innovate and lead the industry. She is a mentor, a role model, and a true leader who inspires everyone around her,” he added.
Her journey at Optiva Capital Partners mirrors the transformation of the company itself — from a pioneering wealth advisory firm to Africa’s leader in investment immigration, global access, global acceptance and holistic wealth retention.
Relaxation and Travel Destination
Indeed, Okeke, believes that true relaxation is found in the simplest of moments—sleep and stillness. In her busy world, Sundays are sacrosanct as it is a day off to rest, perhaps enjoy a spa visit, and give her mind the space it rarely gets. While her company operates around the clock, serving clients every minute of the day, Okeke uses her downtime to recharge, allowing
her to return renewed and ready for the next wave of growth.
“Honestly, sleep. I have off days on Sundays. So, I tend to just try and sleep. That’s my relaxation. And I go to the spa as well. But most of my life is Optiva Capital Partners. So, we don’t have any day off. Basically, clients need your service every minute of the day. So, when I have time, I just want to sleep or go to the spa. Or when I’m on vacation, that’s when I really have fun,” she told THISDAY while speaking about how she relaxes.
When it comes to fitness, she shuns the gym floor but embraces movement nonetheless. A personal instructor guides her through walks around her estate —quiet moments of reflection, conversation and stretching. She says these walks aren’t just about exercise; they’re part of her mental reset, a break from a high-stakes corporate life into something grounded.
“I don’t go to the gym, but I do. I have an instructor. So, I take walks at the estate as well and just learn,” she added.
And when travel calls, there’s one destination that always makes the list: Dubai. For Okeke, Dubai isn’t just about luxury, it’s about inspiration. The city’s blend of innovation, design and global energy mirrors her own approach to leadership and business: always dynamic, always forward-looking. In her time away, she absorbs new perspectives, returns with fresh ideas and uses what she learns to drive Optiva’s vision across Africa.
Her weekend routine: rest, movement and exploration may look modest on the surface, but it reveals a leader who understands that balance and replenishment are as essential as ambition. Okeke’s approach reminds us that even at the top, success comes not just from what you do, but how you look after yourself along the way.
Transforming Lives Through Investment Immigration
Speaking with THISDAY, Okeke also reflected on her twelve-year journey, describing it as both “a calling and a mission to help families secure a global future.”
“Over the years, I’ve seen how a second passport transforms lives,” she said with quiet conviction. “We once had a client who sadly passed away before his family could relocate,
but because we had already processed their permanent residency, his wife and children moved to Canada. Today, his children are in some of the best schools in the world enjoying free education. It’s fulfilling to know that even in his absence, his dreams for his family are alive.”
She shared another story of a Nigerian entrepreneur who, through Optiva’s guidance, secured a second passport and went on to establish a multi-billion-dollar tile factory in the Middle East, employing hundreds and repatriating foreign exchange to Nigeria. “That’s what being global means — it’s about creating prosperity that flows back home,” she said. “We’ve had clients who gained access to emergency healthcare abroad or new business frontiers because of their global citizenship. The impact is real, and its life-changing.”
Global Mobility: Freedom Without Barriers
“ManyAfricans still ask why a second passport is necessary,” Okeke begins, “but the answer is
simple: freedom.”
“A second passport offers greater global mobility — the freedom to travel, live, work, and do business in multiple countries without the endless visa restrictions that many Africans face daily,” she explains.
But global mobility is only one piece of the puzzle. “A second citizenship opens access to quality healthcare, top-tier education for children, tax benefits, and, most importantly, wealth preservation across generations.”
Access to Healthcare, Education, and Family Legacy
Okeke highlighted that beyond travel freedom, the real value of a second passport lies in security and opportunity for families.
“Health is wealth. The ability to access timely, quality, and affordable healthcare anywhere in the world can save lives. The same applies to education — citizens of these countries often enjoy free or subsidised education, paying domestic rates instead of international fees,” she noted.
Amaka Okeke
Over the Years, I’ve Seen How Second Passport Transforms Lives
Parents, she explained, are particularly motivated by this. “Every parent’s dream is to see their children study in the best schools in the world. With second citizenship, that dream becomes reality.” Your children stand tall with confidence, that is called LEVERAGE.
She also points to family legacy as a key motivator. “These passports are hereditary — passed down through generations. It’s one of the most powerful gifts you can give your family: security, stability, and a better future.”
Wealth Preservation and Tax Efficiency
For high-net-worth individuals, the financial incentives are equally compelling. “A second passport can save you millions through favorable tax regimes,” she reveals.
“In several jurisdictions, citizens are exempt from income tax, inheritance tax, or capital gains tax. That means your wealth works harder for you.”
According to Okeke, one of Optiva’s strengths is helping clients diversify across jurisdictions, currencies, and asset classes to protect their wealth from volatility. “We’ve seen people lose fortunes to inflation, devaluation, or unstable markets. Our investment structures ensure that it never happens to our clients.”
The Hidden Advantages of Global Acceptance
While many focus on visa-free access, Okeke believes that global acceptance and security are the true benefits.
“What happens when your passport limits
your ability to cross borders, even in emergencies?” she asks. “We’ve seen travelers stranded in transit because their passports aren’t recognized or respected.” She recalls a recent case that went viral — a woman stranded for 21 hours in an airport because her passport did not permit entry. “That’s not just inconvenience; that’s vulner-
ability,” Okeke says.
“In times of crisis or conflict, the United Nations prioritizes the evacuation of citizens and residents of recognized countries. So, the question becomes — where will your family be if you rely only on a temporary visa?”
Second Citizenship as an Investment Strategy
For Optiva Capital Partners, a second passport is not just a lifestyle choice; it’s a strategic investment decision. “We are a wealth retention and investment advisory company,” Okeke explains. “Wise investors diversify.Asecond passport gives you access to foreign markets and the ability to invest, earn, and expand your portfolio globally.”
This diversification helps clients earn in stable currencies, hedge against inflation, and grow assets beyond national borders. “It’s a proactive wealth strategy — ensuring that your money is working for you, not just sitting idle.”
Wealth Retention and Holistic Services
Under Okeke’s supportive leadership, Optiva Capital Partners has evolved beyond investment immigration into a one-stop global advisory firm offering wealth retention, insurance, and international real estate solutions. “Our mission is simple — to improve lives by protecting, growing, and optimizing our clients’ wealth,” she explained. “We provide bespoke wealth retention solutions across jurisdictions and asset classes. We ensure your money not only works for you but continues to grow over time.”
For her, the company’s success lies in its
personalised approach to client service.
“No two families are the same,” she noted. “Some clients want global access but not relocation; others seek long-term investments abroad. We tailor our programs — whether it’s citizenship by investment in the Caribbean or residency in North America and Europe — to fit each family’s dreams and realities.”
This deep understanding of client aspirations has positioned Optiva as the undisputed leader in investment immigration and wealth retention across Africa.
The Woman Behind the Vision Okeke’s story is one of purpose and passion. A graduate of the University of Lagos and a certified Business Analysis Professional, she rose through the ranks at Optiva through merit, hard work, and unmatched dedication.
Her role as Executive Director of Business Development sees her oversee all branches, drive business strategy, manage institutional operations, and lead team development. Her record of excellence speaks for itself — consistently recognized as the firm’s top performer and recipient of the GAHAWARD Youth Icon “Future Shaper” Award in 2023 by the GMYT Group.
Beyond her corporate achievements, Ambassador Okeke is admired for her mentorship, humility, and people-centered leadership. Colleagues describe her as someone who “leads from the heart but drives with vision.”
Christianah Akingboye: He Was My Husband, Sweetheart, Yet They Accused Me of Killing Him
She called him Sweetheart. For 34 years, they were inseparable —husband, wife, best friends, gossip partners. But just weeks ago, her world imploded. Her husband, a business tycoon turned politician died. She tells Adedayo Adejobi how she was stripped, beaten, and accused of murder by her own stepson and the police after his death 2019.
When Christiana married the man she called Sweetheart, she thought their story would be one of faith, family, and triumph. For 34 years, she says, they were inseparable—husband, wife, best friends, gossip partners.
“Anybody that knew us knew I called him Sweetheart,” she recalls softly, eyes clouding. “In fact, people even stopped calling me Christiana. I became Sweetheart. That’s how close we were.”
Together, they built a home where laughter echoed through spacious rooms—even if those rooms were often filled with strangers Christiana had taken in.
“If someone had nowhere to stay, I brought them in,” she says.
“He would walk into the house and find a stranger at the dining table. At first, he tolerated it. But then he’d become their friend. That was the kind of man he was—gentle, humble, generous.”
But the love story that seemed unbreakable would be tested by politics, by illness, and by the suffocating pressures of a public life that refused to let them rest. And when tragedy struck this August, Christiana’s world unravelled in ways she could never have imagined—grief twisted with suspicion, police cells replacing prayer vigils, and betrayal festering within the family she thought was hers to protect.
For years, Sweetheart—known in political circles as a grassroots man of the people—dreamt of transforming his state. He was no stranger to the campaign trail. By the time he attempted the governorship in November 2024, it was his fifth run.
“He loved his people too much,” Christiana says. “He couldn’t sleep until he felt he had solved everyone’s problems. He’d always put others before himself.”
But Christiana had begged him not to contest. “I told him, don’t run, the ruling party will crush you. But he believed he could make a difference.”
Instead, defeat plunged him into heartbreak. Behind the rally smiles and the rousing slogans lay mounting debts, endless court disputes, and the ghost of an illness that had stalked him since
That year, after another bruising election, doctors in Dubai diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. “We managed it as a family,” Christiana says. “The medications helped. But the stress of politics… it dragged him back into the darkness.”
Mental illness is a quiet predator, and in Sweetheart’s case, it was deadly.
In private, he oscillated between soaring highs—spending, talking, brimming with confidence—and crushing lows, where he withdrew, hallucinated, and whispered fears to the walls.
“He would say masquerades were chasing him at night,” Christiana recalls. “He was terrified people were after him. He thought the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission - (EFCC) would come, that he’d wasted his money, that he’d failed his children.”
Family life became a delicate dance between hope and despair. Their children adored him, but it was Christiana who often bore the brunt of his restlessness. “He was a soft father,” she smiles faintly.
“The children always ran to him for what they wanted. I was the disciplinarian. They called him their getaway father.”
Yet as debts mounted—N360 million refunded over a bitter land dispute, loans clawed back by banks — his anxiety sharpened. Even after Christiana secured their home from repossession in August, relief was fleeting. “I thought once the bank gave us back our documents, he would be free,” she says.
“But the fears were still there. He was broken.”
August bled into September with unsettling signs. Sweetheart paced barefoot on the balcony at night. He grew lean, his once warm eyes clouded with dread.
“Something had stolen his joy,” Christiana admits. “We laughed with him, we prayed, but inside he was crumbling.”
On the 1st of September, after another sleepless night, the family rushed him to Southern Gem Hospital in Victoria garden city, Lagos. His blood pressure was soaring at 198/105, his pulse racing at 150. Sedatives calmed him briefly. By morning, doctors urged he remain for observation. But Sweetheart insisted: he wanted to go home.
That evening, Christiana attended a church
programme, leaving the children by his bedside. When she returned, he begged once more to be discharged. “He said he couldn’t even bathe properly in the hospital,” she sighs.
What happened next shattered everything. At dawn, CCTV cameras captured him stepping off the balcony.
“My son Melvin screamed when he saw the footage,” Christiana says, her voice breaking. “The police officers there saw it too. My husband jumped. It was his illness. It wasn’t us.”
But instead of sympathy, she says, came handcuffs.
Barely days after her husband’s death, Christiana and her children found themselves accused of the unthinkable.
“It was a nightmare,” she says. “We were still mourning, yet the police treated us like criminals.”
At Panti police station in Lagos, she alleges, her son was beaten, suffocated by hardened inmates at the officers’ signal. Christiana herself claims she was stripped, her clothes torn, her dignity shredded.
“They threw me, my children, even our seventy-seven-year-old family helper into the cells,” she recalls.
“We begged them to stop. We had receipts, bank statements, everything to prove we did nothing wrong. But they didn’t want the truth.”
Her stepson— “a child who never once slept in our house in fifteen years”—had gone to the media, accusing her of draining her husband’s account the moment he died. The story went viral, fuelling whispers that a family feud had turned fatal.
But Christiana insists the real evidence clears her. “The CCTV shows it. The doctors know his condition. The autopsy hints at a fall—broken ribs, fractured skull. I didn’t kill my husband. I loved him.”
For Christiana, the battle is no longer only about grief. It is about reclaiming her husband’s dignity and her family’s truth.
“Social media is not a law court,” she says firmly. “Justice will not come from bloggers. My husband suffered with bipolar disorder. He was depressed. He heard voices. That is the truth.”
She calls the police investigation compromised, accusing officers of playing games while a griev-
ing family was locked behind bars. Only the intervention of the Lagos Commissioner of Police, she claims, spared them from being charged and remanded in prison.
“I will never forget how he asked: Did you even call the doctors? Did you check with the hospital? Do you have the autopsy? And the DCP had nothing. Nothing.”
For all the betrayal, the accusations, the bruises—literal and figurative—Christiana insists her faith holds. “God was there on the mountain with us. He’s still here in the valley,” she says quietly.
But her grief lingers, raw and defiant. “He was my sweetheart. My friend. My gossip partner. The father of my children. If only he had left politics, maybe he’d still be here. But I will fight for his name. I will fight for justice. And I will not stop until the truth is told.”
As she speaks, Christiana clutches a photograph of the man she loved for more than three decades. His smile beams back, frozen in a happier time. “He gave me the space to fly,” she whispers. “Now, I have to fly for both of us.”
For all the politics, all the debts, all the rumours, this is the story Christiana wants the world to remember: a husband, a father, a public man— undone by illness, abandoned by those he trusted, and mourned by the woman who still calls him Sweetheart.
Akingboye
Ferdinand Ekechukwu - 08035011394
Email: ferdi_adthisday@yahoo.com
Regina, Ned Nwoko:Beset by Marital Crisis
Ferdinand ekechukwu
One of Nigeria’s most talkedabout unions, which is the marriage between actress, regina Daniels and her husband, Senator Ned Nwoko, has been in the news lately for not so palatable reasons. In the wake of the crisis rocking their marriage, both parties have taken to social media to level scathing accusations against each other.
While regina accused her husband of repeatedly assaulting her and claimed she could no longer endure the alleged abuse, the 64-year-old lawmaker countered, alleging that the 25-year-old actress was addicted to drugs and had destroyed his property under the influence, thus prompting diverse public opinions.
A viral video, which showed regina Daniels, in distress, saying “In Ned Nwoko’s house, I am nothing, but in my own house, I am a Queen. Not again. I can’t stand the violence, it’s too much” has since made the rounds. What truly went wrong?! Is she really into drugs and alcohol as alleged by Ned?
regina Daniels, who married Nwoko in 2019, as his sixth wife, has often been in the public eye alongside the politician and businessman. this was a union supposedly consummated on “love” as both parties had claimed. the marriage, marked by a 40-year age gap, has long drawn public attention, debate and made
several headlines.
their marriage, which now appears to be facing one of its most turbulent moments, with the recent development, brings to mind an article first published at the beginning of their marriage, some six years ago, titled “Ned Nwoko and regina Daniels: We Fell in Love and Got Married Within three Weeks.“
the article noted that observers had trolled regina for marrying Ned for his money. the actress then replied to critics to see her as an adult who is capable of making decision of her choice. At the time, Ned even dismissed claims that the marriage was orchestrated by regina’s mother.
“Actually, some people thought that I met her through her mother or someone. No. We met, fell in love and we got married within three weeks,’’ he said. regina on her part, said she doesn’t think she could have married anyone within her age bracket because she is quite a stubborn person.
She at the time claimed that when she made up her mind to marry Ned, she was more worried about what her family members would say and not what Nigerians had to say.
“the only thing I was worried about then was how we are going to tell my family. I didn’t think about the outside or anything; it was just my family. I don’t think I would have married somebody of my age because I am quite stubborn, very, very stubborn. My head is not down,’’ she said.
regina Daniels became a popular face in Nollywood after she featured in ‘Dumebi goes to school’ alongside star actress, Mercy Johnson
Okojie. She played the role of Dumebi’s best friend. regina has gone ahead to feature in a good number of movies and acted opposite several Nollywood stars.
the last couple of days have seen the couple beset in marital controversy, leaving many to ask if the marriage has come to an end. regina Daniels walked down the aisle with the wealthy lawyer in a traditional ceremony a few months ago.
though low-key, the traditional wedding ceremony took place on Sunday, May 26, 2019, in Aniocha Local Government Area, Delta State, with celebrities in attendance. that was after a traditional introduction ceremony held quietly in regina Daniels’ family compound in Asaba, Delta State.
the news was quite rife then that the young movie star and her billionaire businessman had secretly tied the knot. As it seemed, not a few had doubted the veracity of the gist of regina’s romance with Ned. It became a very big issue of public interest in April 20019 after the news circulated further.
“both regina and Ned did not deny the rumor even as it dominated the blogosphere and social media space. There was further confirmation with regina seen displaying opulence nestled in expensive cars, wristwatches and mansions and being flown in a private jet.
“On few occasions, she was spotted cruising around Abuja in a red Ferrari. Late in March 2019, regina set tongues wagging after she showed off a Rolex wristwatch she bought for over N3 million. In the same month, the ‘Dumebi in School’ actress shared pictures of
a house she bought for her mother and two Mercedes-benz cars she acquired. She had earlier flaunted a new Brabus G Wagon, all supposedly courtesy of the billionaire.
“One could then imagine the reaction that greeted keen observers and their followers seeing pictures of the “couple” trend online when they stepped out for the first time at an event.” regina enjoyed all the glitz associated with befriending the billionaire businessman and politician, Ned. their marriage, as it seems, is no longer looking like one of the tales from Nollywood anymore.
Wale Ojo Leads All-star Cast, Premieres New Movie December 5
Ahead of his film release, renowned actor and filmmaker, Wale Ojo, has shared a teaser of the new flick titled, ‘‘This Is Not A Nollywood Movie.”
Ojo who leads an all-star cast of the new feature, in a post via his social media handles, describes the production as mad and zany action packed comedy, featuring a mix of the OGs and the Gen Zs in Nigeria’s entertainment scene.
Accompanied by a caption, a short clip showing the award-winning actor and a couple of cast members arriving at a venue during the project unveiling, disclosed posting behind the scenes btS, photos, and videos in the coming weeks, and noted to have gone to great lengths to put together the cast of the much anticipated film to create an enriching and madly funny film.
While the film is set for release nationwide on December 5, Ojo at a press conference explained that the movie will be premiered across five countries, with international
2Baba Set for
screenings planned in the UK, US, Ghana, South Africa, and canada. Ojo, who wrote and directed the film, described it as a landmark project that bridges generations
Historic Performance
at His 25 Years Concert Tour
but a generation of music that has inspired millions across the continent.
in Nollywood. He further described the title as “a mystical one” that audiences would only understand after watching the movie. He
Taiwo
October 2025 began on a high note for 2baba, as he embarked on his end-of-year UK tour. The tour kicked off on October 2 in London and continued with performances at various venues across the United Kingdom.
Expected to round off the tour on 1st of November in Cardiff, United Kingdom fans back home are set to experience an historic performance this November at his return back home.
On the 14th of November 2025, 2baba will celebrate 25 years on stage at transcorp Hilton, Abuja. tagged, ‘the 2baba experience, May I Know You Again,’ the concert promises to be a one of a kind experience for his fans and guests. the concert will take fans on a journey through 2baba’s timeless hits, chart-topping collaborations, and the powerful legacy he has built as one of Africa’s most influential voices. With an exciting lineup of special guest performances, live band renditions, and emotional tributes, the 2baba experience is set to celebrate not just a career,
talking about this historical event, 2baba wrote on Instagram: “to God Almighty, I give all the glory for the gift of life, the gift of music, and the grace to stand strong for 25 years in this journey.
“As I celebrate 25 years of industry experience, my heart is full of gratitude. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has been part of this incredible story, my family, my fans, my management teams past and present, promoters, DJs, fellow musicians, the media, PMAN, cOSON, government agencies, multinational companies, NGOs, and every individual and institution that has contributed to my growth.
“I honor the awards, the ambassadorial appointments, the traditional titles, and every recognition that has come my way. Special thanks to Nelson brown & Kennis Music for repositioning my brand in my early years, and to all the platforms and people who believed in me when it mattered the most.
further highlighted the film’s diversity, saying, “This is a unified film: Yoruba actors playing Igbo characters, Igbo actors playing Yoruba characters, Lagosians playing international roles. It’s a film like no other.”
“I wrote this film, I directed it, and I got this band of crazy people around me. ‘this Is Not a Nollywood Movie’— it’s an action comedy,” he said. “It’s a mixture of bringing together the OGs and the Gen Zs. I’m so, so happy and very proud of this film. I think it’s going to be a real landmark movie.”
The much anticipated film stars Bimbo Akintola, Julius Agu, Hanks Anuku, blossom chukwujeku, chidi Mokeme, Shatta bandle, brother Shaggy, and boma Akpore, who also serves as the producer. The film, distributed by Film One, tells the story of Okechukwu Nwadi Ibe, a failed Igbo movie director attempting a comeback.
Ojo explained that the movie was inspired by his various experience in Nollywood and a desire to explore his comedy side. “I’ve always like to explore my comedy side and I thought I should write as script. It’s a combination of different experiences in Nollywood and I want this movie to be like a feel-good tonic for my people. I want people to forget anything negative,” he said.
Clegg Set to Release New Single
trumpet player, taiwo clegg, who has been an active in the music industry is gearing to release a new single, marking another exciting chapter in his musical journey. Known for his exceptional versatility and commanding stage presence, clegg continues to carve a distinct niche in the Nigerian and international music scene especially when it comes to the play of the trumpet.
With the ability to perform across diverse genres such as Highlife, Jazz, Gospel to Afro and Salsa he has earned a reputation for his dynamic sound and artistic depth. However, his core strength and passion remain deeply rooted in Gospel, Jazz, and Highlife, where he seamlessly blends soulful melodies with rich instrumentation.
Speaking about his forthcoming release, clegg described it as a project inspired by purpose and a renewed sense of artistic direction. the new single, which will serve as a precursor to several planned releases in 2026, is expected to showcase his growth as both a musician and a composer. beyond the single, clegg has set his sights on major projections for 2026, including collaborations, live concert, tours and a body of work that will
celebrate African rhythm through the trumpet. He also intends to use his platform to mentor emerging instrumentalists and promote live performance culture within the gospel and jazz community.
As anticipation builds, fans and music lovers can expect taiwo clegg’s upcoming single to reaffirm his position as one of Nigeria’s finest trumpeters and a gifted artist whose sound continues to transcend borders and genres.
Tosin Clegg
some of the cast of ‘This is Not a Nollywood Movie’
regina and Ned Nwoko
Ferdinand ekechukwu
Tosin Clegg
Taiwo Clegg
•Tourism •Arts&Culture
Culture Meets Royalty at Ofala Festival
The
yearly Ofala Festival is deep in culture, tradition and royalty, writes Charles Ajunwa
The age-long Ofala Festival, which happens annually, showcases the rich culture and traditions of the people of Onitsha in Anambra State. Obi of Onitsha is the custodian of this highly revered tradition.
This year’s Ofala Festival, the 24th since the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, ascended the throne of Ezechima in 2002, welcomed visitors from diverse backgrounds. Onitsha, which sits on the bank of River Niger, literally stood still as everywhere was turned to carnival mood.
The Ofala Festival, themed ‘Njiko na Ntachi’ (Unity and Resilience), identified Onitsha people’s enduring values of unity, strength, and perseverance.
People who gathered at the palace of the Obi of Onitsha, apart from being entertained by different drummers and colourful parade shows, waited to catch a glimpse of the monarch as he appeared in public for the first time after observing isolated spiritual cleansing. A ceremony, the monarch performs with colourful regalia and unique royal dance steps, which was greeted with a standing ovation and shouts of “long live the king” from admirers.
At the ceremony attended by government officials from federal to state levels, local and international tourists, Achebe implored Nigerians to remain resilient and united.
“Our theme last year was ‘Better. Stronger. Together’. It was a call on our people to consolidate on our breakthroughs and galvanise for the challenges ahead. That message remains as relevant today as ever,” he noted.
The monarch in an interview with ARISE Television, explained the significance of Ofala Festival and how it has changed the socio-cultural and economic tapestry of Onitsha.
Explaining the history of Ofala Festival and involvement of Obi of Onitsha, Achebe enthused that “The monarch historically lived in near isolation within the premises of the palace, and he emerged once a year to be seen by his people and to see his people and to receive a pledge of loyalty.”
He described the monarch’s retreat as a time “during which I am cut off completely from the world. I sleep on the floor, in meditation with the ancestors and with God, reviewing the past year, seeking for God’s forgiveness, and asking
The Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) has honoured Nigerians who have continued to contribute to the growth and development of the tourism sector.
Those honoured by ANJET at its annual conference and awards themed ‘The Role of International Hospitality Brands In The Growth Of Nigerian Tourism and Economy’s included former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Amb. Frank Ogbuewu who received award of ‘Most Impactful Nigerian Minister of Culture and Tourism’, former Director General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Mr. Segun Runsewe received ‘Pillar of Nigerian Tourism and Culture’, and former Assistant General Manager of Eko Hotels, Chief (Mrs.) Abimbola Bode-Thomas received ‘Hospitality and Hotel Management Amazon’. Others were tour operator expert, Chief Yemi Alade received ‘National Trail Blazer in Inbound Tour Operation’, immediate past President of Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung received ‘Icon of Consistency and Resilience in National Tourism Leadership, President of Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON),
Engr. Ganiyu Shekoni Balogun (Tarzan) received ‘National Icon in Tourist Boat Operations and Water Transportation’, Chief Executive Officer, La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye received ‘Foremost National Tourism Builder and Creative Mind’s and Sheraton Hotel and Towers received award for “40 years of Impactful Contribution to the Growth and Development of Nigerian Tourism and Economy’.
for God’s blessings in the year ahead.”
Ofala Festival, he said, over time has become not just a sacred event but also a cultural and economic opportunity. “And that’s the package that we have today. Obviously, by bringing the world to Onitsha, there is an economic side of it, lifestyle, tourism, and so on.”
“Ofala Onitsha is as old as the community, so going back some 600 years ago.
“It comes up in the middle of the harvest season when we celebrate, particularly the New Year Festival. And of course in those days our community and literally all communities were very agrarian,” Achebe explained.
There had been a flurry of commendations from well-meaning Nigerians, extolling the Obi of Onitsha for upholding the age-long Ofala Festival of his forebears.
Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, who commended the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Achebe, for preserving the culture of his people, said that Nigeria’s diverse cultures are not just historical references but living assets that can serve as
Chief Host of the event, Director General of National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Dr. Abisoye Fagade, who spoke before the presentation of awards held at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, thanked the recipients for their individual contributions to the growth and development of tourism in Nigeria, adding that their “service to the nation is not in vain, it’s a celebration of service, mentorship and resilience.”
Earlier in his welcome address, ANJET President, Mr. Okorie Uguru, said, “The individuals and distinguished Nigerians we are honouring are among the people that built the visibility and growth the industry is enjoying today, from the former Minister of Tourism, Ambassador
Nigerian visual artist Out IbeEnwo is using his vibrant, storytelling canvases to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of West Africa for a new generation.
Ibe-Enwo is a Nigerian-born artist and sculptor from Afikpo in South-East Nigeria. His artistic style is a combination of surrealism and realism to create rich and complex representations that epitomizes traditional and ancient West African art. His works are multimedia using materials such as textile, hair, beads and other objects that are fused together to reflect West-African cultures. He adopts a very interactive form of expression to foster a very imaginative experience for art
powerful drivers of economic growth and global identity if properly harnessed.
“Culture is a living legacy that tells our story and defines our identity. When nurtured, it becomes a source of pride, social harmony, and economic opportunity,” Musawa said.
“The Obi of Onitsha has shown through his leadership that culture can coexist with progress. His devotion to education, tradition, and innovation is a lesson in how traditional institutions can contribute to nation-building,” she added.
Musawa revealed that the federal government, through the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, is working to promote partnerships that enhance the economic potential of Nigeria’s cultural assets. They are policies that encourage investment in tourism infrastructure, creative content development, and capacity-building initiatives for practitioners in the arts and tourism sectors.
According to her, “Our ministry is determined to leverage Nigeria’s cultural diversity for global relevance and economic prosperity. We are building platforms that will allow our people to tell their
Franklin Ogbuewu, former Director General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, and others, they have contributed and are still contributing to the sector.
“As holders of institutional memories and archivists of this industry, we know the roles they have played and are still playing in the development of Nigerian tourism I dustry. That is why years after some of our awardees have left; we still call on them. To our awardees, we are celebrating you and saying thanks for all you have done, and still doing in the Nigerian Tourism and culture space.”
Uguru said Ogbuewu from a humble beginning, worked himself into greatness and fame while most times, living his life for others. “In 1999, Amb.
enthusiasts.
According to him, realistic portrayals of Afikpo masquerades, Ojude Oba festivals, Eyo festivals and other cultural events reflect the ties between his works and West-African cultural heritage.
Otu’s artworks operate as visual essays and social critiques, designed to stimulate reflection and discourse about human socio-cultural interactions.
He experiments with illustrative reconstructions that present these cultural events in an atypical manner. The juxtapositions of modern performances with old traditional performances, as well as depictions that contradict traditional gender constructs within certain rituals are hallmark of his artistic style.
In his “Ojude-Oba: Equine series,” he presents bmx riders performing stunts alongside the Ojude-Oba equestrians to emote the dramatic
stories, celebrate their heritage, and transform their creativity into wealth.”
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ben Kalu, who led members of the National Assembly to witness the 24th Ofala Festival of His Royal Majesty, Igwe Achebe (Agbogidi), commended the royal father for his exemplary leadership and tireless advocacy for cultural preservation.
“I commend His Majesty’s exemplary leadership, tireless advocacy for education and cultural preservation, and his commitment to the well-being of our people.
“May this joyous occasion continue to bring love, peace, fulfillment, and cherished moments to families and communities in Onitsha and beyond,” Kalu said.
The 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, who also attended the ceremony in the historic ancient City of Onitsha, said “The Ofala Festival remains one of our most cherished cultural celebrations, and I have had the privilege of attending it often since my secondary school days at Christ the King College, Onitsha. It is a time when the people of Onitsha come together to honour their revered monarch, celebrate unity, showcase rich cultural heritage, and give thanks to God for life and progress.
“It was truly heartwarming to behold the vibrant display of tradition that has stood the test of time and continues to define the identity of our people.
“I deeply commend His Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, for his exemplary leadership, wisdom, and commitment to preserving our traditions. His reign continues to inspire a sense of unity and progress among the people.
“May the Almighty continue to bless him with long life, wisdom, and good health, and may the land of Onitsha continue to flourish in peace, prosperity, and joy.
“Happy Ofala Festival to all sons and daughters of Onitsha, at home and in the diaspora. May our culture and unity continue to thrive,” Obi stated.
With the successful hosting of the 2025 Ofala Festival, all eyes have shifted to the 2026 edition, which observers say would be splendid and entertaining as the Obi of Onitsha, Achebe leads the charge as true symbol and custodian of the culture and traditions of Onitsha people.
Ogbuewu was nominated for an ambassadorial position by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, and posted to the Hellenic Republic of Greece, a position he served til 2003.
“In July, 2003, he was appointed as the Honourable Minister of Culture and Tourism (minister of cabinet rank). As the Honourable Minister of Culture and Tourism, he revived culture, brought innovation in tourism development.”
He said former NCAC boss, Runsewe, gave journalists needed local and international exposures that still help them to execute their work professionally and also help grow the the tourism sector.
essence of cultural interdependence.
Additionally, he evokes a debate surrounding gender and the need for reconsideration on these existing notions.
Otu explores themes in the ’Nsibidi’ philosophy, inter-cultural tolerance and integration within Ojude-Oba, gender inequality, political instability and social activism.
Otu’s works are expressions that blend together historical, cultural and contemporary analogies to offer renditions that would engage audiences to foster a spiritual, intellectual, cultural, historical and aesthetical connection to his West African roots.
In addition, his artistic endeavours correspond with an inherited legacy of craftsmanship which hereditary. He is a descendant of notable figures and individuals who have contributed to various zeitgeists of Afikpo culture.
Deputy Speaker House of representatives, rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu (left) paying homage to the Obi of Onitsha, His royal Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, during the 2025 Ofala Festival held in Onitsha, Ansmbra State
Charles Ajunwa
Ayo Yusuf
Stallion Group Unveils 4 New MG Models in Nigeria
Stallion Group, Nigeria’s leading automobile distributor, has expanded its MG lineup with the official launch of four new models comprising two SUVs — the MG rX9, MG rX5; a Sedan,- MG5 cNG (bi-fuel); and MG t60 Pickup.
this reaffirms Stallion Group’s commitment to delivering innovative, reliable, and energy-efficient mobility solutions to Nigerian motorists, the company’s officials said at the launch during the week.
While the MG brand is of british origin, its vehicles are now produced and manufactured by SAIc Motor corp.
the unveiling, held on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, at the Stallion MG Showroom at Akin Adesola/ Kofo Abayomi Street, VI Lagos, brought together motoring journalists and automobile enthusiasts.
Speaking at the event, Josephine Nwosu, General Sales Manager for the Stallion MG brand in Nigeria, described the launch as a strategic move to close the year on a high note by introducing models tailored to evolving consumer needs — vehicles that blend innovation, efficiency, and value.
“this launch coincides with the festive season, a key period for automotive sales and brand engagement,” Nwosu said. “MG’s reputation for quality and innovation complements our vision to elevate the automotive experience for Nigerian drivers.”
Nwosu explained that with the introduction of the SUV rX9, SUV rX5, MG5 cNG (bi-fuel), and t60 Pickup, Stallion MG is deepening its presence in Nigeria by offering stylish, high-performance vehicles that deliver both reliability and affordability.
“We aim to reinforce Stallion MG commitment to growing the local automotive sector through technology-driven solutions,” She noted. “As demand for reliable and stylish vehicles continues to rise, MG’s impressive lineup — including electric and hybrid options — reflects the global shift toward sustainable mobility.
FOUR MODELS, ONE VISION: INNOVATION FOR EVERY DRIVER MG rX9 – the Flagship SUV for Families and executives
the rX9 leads the lineup as MG’s luxury flagship SUV, featuring a spacious three-row interior, intelligent infotainment with bOSe audio system, and a powerful yet efficient 2.0t “Net blue” engine. Designed for comfort, safety, and performance on any terrain, it represents the pinnacle of MG’s craftsmanship.
MG rX5 – the compact SUV for Urban explorers compact, dynamic, and tech-forward, the rX5 is powered by a 1.5L turbocharged engine with a 7-speed Dual clutch transmission. Its bold design, panoramic sunroof, and advanced connectivity
make it ideal for Nigeria’s modern urban lifestyle.
MG5 CNG (Bi-fuel) – The Eco-Friendly Sedan for the Future the MG5 cNG introduces an affordable, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional fuels. running on compressed natural gas, it offers reduced emissions, extended range and lower running costs, aligning with the federal government’s push for greener mobility solutions.
MG T60 – The Rugged Pickup for Work and Adventure built tough for Nigeria’s diverse terrain, the MG t60 pickup combines power and versatility. With 2.4L petrol and 2.8L turbo diesel engine options in both 4x2 and 4x4 configurations, it’s designed for durability, high towing capacity, and comfort — ideal for both business and leisure.
Josephine Nwosu emphasized that these new models highlight Stallion MG’s ongoing commitment to value, modern design, safety, fuel efficiency, and advanced technology — all backed by trusted aftersales service.
“Stallion MG partnership with MG Motors is built on dedicated service, genuine parts, and strong nationwide support,” she said. “SUV models like the rX5 and rX9 are assembled in Nigeria as part of our long-term investment in the local automotive industry and in support of the government’s automotive development plan.” She also revealed Stallion MG plans to expand local assembly operations in the coming months, strengthening its position as a key player in Nigeria’s evolving automotive landscape.
Spiro Electric Bikes Cut Costs, Promote Cleaner Environment
As more and more Nigerians begin to embrace the use of cleaner energy in fueling mobility across the country, one company has in the last one year and a few months, been steadily increasing the efforts in this regard to make mobility as affordable as possible.
this efforts, the company has been making is in the area of locally manufacturing electric bikes for businesses and for personal mobility across different parts of the country.
Introduced in Nigeria sometime in 2024, Spiro, with a manufacturing base in Ogun state, Spiro is gradually becoming a household name, as its bikes are making headlines in different parts of Nigeria.
rahul Gaur, Director of Spiro West Africa, affirms that the introduction of Spiro bikes in the country has significantly cut the running cost of bikes and reduced the down time for riders.
He said, “What we could observe was the fact that the riders were not saving so much. And hence, electric mobility, I’ll say affordable electric mobility, will help them save more when it comes to electric mobility, at least from Spiro’s stable today”. explaining that aside cost cutting, Spiro bikes also help in keeping a cleaner environment, the Director said “as an organization, what we are doing is we are giving a product which is adding
to the cleaner environment for the country, which is very, very needed today.
“We are also creating jobs, not only from the manufacturing plant, not only from the swap stations, rather a lot of tech software engineers have
been hired by Spiro. And hence it’s a full-fledged, ecosystem that we have built in, which is creating more and more jobs, from swap station agents to technicians to engineers to our plant operators.
And lastly, we are making the riders save more money, which eventually will help the economic growth of the country better in the coming times”. confirming that the riders of Spiro bikes are happy, he said “I think the best part for the riders is that they do not have to wait for the repair of bikes for longer hours, plus the maintenance cost is less. And finally, on the daily cost of running, which is your swap price or your fuel savings, they are very happy on the extra money that this bike is making them save today.
the Director added that though sourcing energy was a challenge at the initial stage of its operations, it current depends on the national grid, maintain storage network as well as generates solar energy in some cases to power its swapping station.
According to him, “the primary source of energy is obviously the grid. the second medium we are choosing is the energy storage solution, this solution, powers the swap station, battery swap station, when there is no electricity. And thirdly, we are now moving towards adding solar to the whole power generation on all our swap stations.
“So we have a full-fledged team which works upon the hunting, scouting for locations where we would need the battery swap stations. the whole
design of a network is done by our maps team which works very, very closely with the ground teams to ensure that we have swap station at a very near places where the riders can go and swap easily”.
On the market competition, Mr. rahul Gaur, added that “it’s not about competition. It is all about giving access to convenient and affordable mobility. Whosoever can provide that will obviously be preferred. but we are making sure as we are pricing our bikes as close as the petrol bikes, so it is a very healthy competition, which will bring out the best for the consumer”.
Spiro which is the largest electric mobility company in Africa, operates the largest battery swapping infrastructure in 8 countries on the continent. Spiro intends to transform the African economies through substitution of expensive imported fossil fuel-based transportation into affordable, and accessible electric mobility solutions locally made in Africa, by Africans, for Africa and the world. this far, Spiro has achieved over half a billion kilometres of cO2 free travel, crossed 23 million battery swaps and operated over 1295 battery swapping stations with more than 45,000 motor bikes in circulation. through its expanding regional production network and upcoming facilities in different African countries, Spiro is committed to deliver affordable, locally manufactured electric mobility solutions at scale across Africa.
Oyo State Bikers Association Partners Motul for Official Lubricant Distribution in Ibadan
Motul, a globally recognized leader in highperformance lubricants officially distributed in Nigeria by Winpart by cFAO, has entered into a strategic partnership with the Oyo State bikers Association to enhance the availability and distribution of Motul products across Ibadan and the wider Oyo State region.
The collaboration was officially inaugurated on Saturday, October 11, 2025, during the Oyo State bikers convention held in Ibadan.
As part of the initiative, the association’s Secretariat has been fully branded by Motul, marking its transformation into an authorized distributor of Motul products in the state. the partnership underscores Motul’s continued commitment to expanding its presence in Nigeria by working closely with credible and organized groups within the mobility ecosystem. through this alliance, members of the Oyo State bikers Association, as well as other power bike owners, motorcycle users, and car owners
in the region, will now have easier access to genuine Motul lubricants, renowned globally for their superior engine performance, protection, and reliability.
Mr. eric Fantodji, General Manager of Winpart by cFAO, expressed optimism about the impact of the partnership on both the local biking community and the broader automotive sector in the region.
He said “our partnership with the Oyo State Bikers Association reflects our ongoing commitment to bringing quality Motul products closer to end users across Nigeria.
“by working with reputable associations such as this, we are not only strengthening Motul’s market presence but also promoting best practices in vehicle and engine maintenance,”
Mr. Fantodji stated.
Also speaking at the event, Dr. Falade babatunde, President of the Oyo State bikers Association, commended Motul and Winpart by CFAO for their confidence in the association and their support for the growth of the biking community in Oyo State.
“this partnership is a welcome development
for our members and the entire biking community in Ibadan. Motul is a globally trusted brand known for quality and reliability, and we are proud to be associated with such excellence.
rahul Gaur
oyo State Bikers Association and Motul officials
“through this collaboration, our Secretariat will serve not only as an administrative hub but also as a trusted source for authentic Motul lubricants and technical support,” said Dr. Falade.
Last weekend, Senator Tunde Ogbeha received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State, the second honorary doctorate in the last few weeks. Ogbeha, supported by his wife Esther, was in Lokoja to receive the award with a strong contingent of his friends and political associates.
PHOTOS: Julius Atoi
L-r: Mrs Helen Mark and Husband Senator David
L-r: prof Olu Jegede; H.e Yomi Awoniyi and engr Sam Uhuotu
Senator Tunde Ogbeha
L-r: Chief Sam Abenermi and Muhammad A. Balga
L-r: Barr Justina Abaniels and Achor Aclule Joy.
L-r: Senator Tunde Ogbeha and wife esther
L-r: Dr Musa Ibrahim Ahmadu and Dr rajeb A. Naib
L-r: Lady Ussieh Osunbor and Husband Senator Osunbor
L-r: Hon Samuel Bamidele Aro and Hon T.J Faniyi
L-r: Shola Ojo; David itostony Itopa and Hajia Mariam Ibrahim
L-r: prince Olusola Akanmode and wife Yemisi
L-r: Usman Umar; Alhaji Ibrahim Ismail and Alhaji Siraj Abdullahi
L-r: Kola Ologbondiyan and richard Akanmode
L-r: Chief Obah C. ehigiator and Ogga Temitope Kingsley
L-r: richard Otitoleke and Seyi Babaeko
Alhaji Naibi rajab, Senator Tunde Ogbeha and Alhaji Gambo Kabir iv Maigari of Lokoja.
Beyond Profit: How Dangote Group Is Redefining the Soul of African Business
Abiodun Alade
When Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, speaks about business, the world often expects to hear numbers — billions invested, factories built, or jobs created.
But when he recalls the lesson that guides his empire, it is disarmingly simple, “The soul of business is not in making more money, but in making people happy.”
That singular belief has quietly defined one of the most remarkable corporate success stories on the continent.
At a time when global capitalism is often measured purely by profit margins and shareholder value, the Dangote Group has built its legacy on a different foundation — human impact.
Across cement plants, fertiliser fields, sugar refineries, and now Africa’s largest oil refinery, the Group has pursued a bold mission: to turn enterprise into empowerment, and to make prosperity a collective experience, not a private privilege.
Building Industries That Empower Nations
The Dangote Group’s footprint today stretches across multiple strategic sectors, including cement, sugar, salt, fertiliser, and petroleum refining, employing tens of thousands of people across Africa. But beyond its industrial scale lies a consistent thread, which is, every investment is designed to solve a real problem and improve everyday life.
Before the rise of Dangote Cement, many African nations, including Nigeria, relied heavily on imported cement. Prices were unstable, and local infrastructure projects often stalled. Dangote’s entry changed that equation. By establishing world-class cement plants across the continent, the Group not only reduced import dependence but also made housing and construction more affordable, directly supporting millions of builders, traders, and transporters.
Similarly, the Dangote Fertiliser Plant, the largest in Africa, is transforming agriculture by boosting yields, reducing the high cost of imported fertiliser, and promoting food security. It has enabled farmers
to earn higher incomes and has strengthened Nigeria’s capacity for sustainable agricultural growth.
Now, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a $20 billion facility in Lagos’ Lekki Free Zone, is rewriting the story of Africa’s energy independence. For decades, Nigeria exported crude oil only to import refined petrol at immense cost. Dangote’s refinery is changing that narrative, ensuring that Africans benefit directly from their own resources. The plant is expected to save billions in foreign exchange, stabilise domestic fuel supply, and create more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.
These are not abstract statistics; they represent real lives transformed — proof that business, when done with purpose, can become an instrument of national and regional development.
Putting People Before Profit
Within the Dangote Group, this people-first philosophy runs deep. The company’s approach to human capital development is built on continuous training, workplace safety, and professional growth. From truck drivers and plant technicians to engineers and senior managers, every employee is viewed as a partner in progress.
This commitment extends beyond the factory gates through the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF). Dangote is quietly building one of the continent’s most impactful philanthropic legacies through the ADF — a charity that now rivals global development agencies in scale and reach.
Founded in 1994, the Foundation has grown into sub-Saharan Africa’s largest private philanthropic organisation, focusing on health, nutrition, education, and economic empowerment. Its mission is simple yet ambitious: to lift millions out of poverty and improve the quality of life across the continent.
Over the years, ADF has been at the centre of some of Africa’s most ambitious health campaigns. In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, it has supported polio eradication and routine immunisation programmes in northern Nigeria, Chad and
Niger Republic. It has renovated hospitals, built new health centres in Yobe and Kano States, and installed more than 200 solar-powered boreholes to provide safe water for rural communities.
The Foundation’s $100 million Integrated Nutrition Programme targets over one million malnourished children across Nigeria through fortified foods, community nutrition campaigns, and the production of ready-to-use therapeutic foods. It also runs large-scale feeding schemes serving thousands daily in Kano and Lagos.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, ADF co-led the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), mobilising billions of naira in private-sector support to strengthen testing, equip isolation centres, and provide relief to millions of households.
Education has been another major pillar. The Foundation funded the N1.2 billion Dangote Business School at Bayero University, Kano, and donated modern hostels to universities in Zaria, Kano, and Ibadan. It has also built and renovated primary and secondary school blocks across Lagos and Edo States, improving access for thousands of pupils. In economic empowerment, ADF’s Micro-Grant Programme has provided over N3.9 billion to nearly 553,000 women and youths in 11 states, offering small seed capital to boost rural enterprise.
ADF has also delivered large-scale humanitarian relief in crisis zones. In Borno State, it built the Dangote Village — 200 fully furnished houses for internally displaced families, with schools, clinics, and cash grants for widows. Over N7 billion has gone into supporting victims of insurgency and communal violence across northern Nigeria, alongside N500 million in relief for traders affected by market fires in Kano. In one of its most impactful humanitarian efforts, the ADF has consistently distributed one million bags of rice annually to vulnerable households across Nigeria — a gesture that underscores its deep-rooted empathy for ordinary citizens.
Beyond Nigeria, ADF’s philanthropy stretches across borders. It has funded health and education initiatives in Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Sudan, Niger, and Nepal, and partnered with international institutions such as the Africa Center in New York, the Obama Foundation, and the SDG Center for Africa.
For the man who built Africa’s largest industrial empire, philanthropy is no side project — it is central to his idea of progress. The Foundation’s work has become a blueprint for how African wealth can drive African development, proving that the true measure of success lies not in profit, but in the power to uplift lives.
Baseless Attack on Ministry of Solid Minerals Development
Out of several hundred licences that were revoked for offenses ranging from dormancy to defaults in payment of service fees, only one of the defaulters is raising hell. This foreigner held licenses for several years without any operation and refused to pay a single kobo in service to the government. He is now sponsoring economic saboteurs and unpatriotic elements to attack regulation enforcement, claiming it stifles sector sanitisation.
This sponsor is the highest debtor in the sector’s history for annual service fee payments. He tried but failed to frustrate the implementation of the Nigerian Mining and Minerals Act through blackmail, threats, and lobbying.
This individual also sponsored Billyamniu Suraj’s latest tirade against the widely acclaimed 8-point Agenda of the Minister of Solid Minerals Development. Suraj’s statements include unsubstantiated allegations and fabricated falsehoods meant to undermine the ministry’s reforms in the solid minerals sector.
We are proud of journalists who took a look at this piece of calumny, terrorism, and sabotage against a reform package that is being celebrated worldwide and refused to be part of reversing the progressive reforms. The method of corruption employed by the saboteurs in circulating their noxious articles renders hollow their grandstanding as anti-sleaze and exposes their desperation to settle scores at all costs.
These regurgitated lies and repeated innuendoes are feeble reactions to the sturdy reforms outlined in the Seven Point Agenda roadmap to promote the
sector’s international competitiveness and local industrialisation. The impact of the reforms can be seen in the prosecution of over 300 suspects of illegal mining by the Mining Marshals, the incorporation of the Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, foreign direct investment into new private mineral processing centres worth over $ 1 billion, and a historic jump in the revenue of the ministry and its agencies. The success of the reforms has encouraged the Federal Government to put the money where the future lies: a whopping N1 trillion budget was allocated to the ministry this year.
We urge readers to see through the pretentious altruism of these venomous hirelings and the threat their propaganda poses to the sustenance of the Renewed Hope Agenda. Deliberately, they present erroneous assumptions about international mining operations and regulations to manipulate less exposed Nigerians into believing that the reform’s policies on legal compliance, such as penalties for dormancy and defaulting on contractual obligations, are not applied in other climes. For instance, the author lied that revocation of mineral titles for failing to comply with the law is against international investment practices, giving the impression that his sponsors were wrongly penalised. Fact-check it. You will discover that 37 mining licences were revoked in Canada between 2023 and this year. Revocation is also applied in Australia and the United States, where mining is regionally administered. For instance, in the United States, Virginia and Kentucky revoked 20 coal mining licences; New Mexico revoked 10 uranium licenses; and the US Forest Service revoked 15 hard rock mining licences in the Rocky Mountains. In Australia, the Western Australian government revoked 20 licences, Queensland revoked
15 licences in the Scenic Rim area, New South Wales revoked 10 licences, and South Australia revoked 5 licences. The United Kingdom was more severe. It banned outright the issuance of new coal licences as part of repositioning the mining sector for renewable energy. In fact, it renamed the Coal Authority as the Remediation Authority.
The saboteurs claim that the increase in regulatory charges is not the norm in foreign jurisdictions because it discourages investment and drives miners out of business. A simple fact check of increases in regulatory charges in foreign mining sectors exposes the falsehood. In the United Kingdom, local authorities and regulatory bodies have implemented fee increases for mineral extraction. The Coal Authority has noted fluctuations in revenues associated with mining licences. In Canada, the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has also implemented fee increases for mining leases and permits, following revisions to the mining regulations. Similarly, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry has increased fees over the past two years to cover administrative costs and enhanced regulatory requirements.
There are other blatant lies. The saboteurs fabricated the fiction that the Ministry did not attend the last Africa Down Under conference in Perth, Australia, and deluded themselves that it was due to a phantom court service, despite the glaring fact that the Permanent Secretary, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo led the ministry’s delegation to the event.
The agenda of Suraj and his sponsors is to use the media to harass and arm-twist the ministry into reversing the revocation of licences by hook or by crook. The desperation to disparage the minister as out of sync with the solid minerals sector by casting aspersions on his track
record in repositioning the sector is to serve the economic, selfish purpose of reclaiming mineral sites that his sponsor had more than 15 years to mine but woefully failed to do so.
Only a lawless group of unpatriotic agents would argue that companies which default on their legal obligations to the government should be patted on the back, asked to sin no more, and allowed to retain their contracts! In actual fact, besides paying their arrears, they should be tried for economic sabotage. The Nigerian Mining and Minerals Act has been in operation for a decade and a half. It allows licensees to surrender their titles and go home in peace if they couldn’t stand the heat in the regulatory kitchen. Investors who want to profit by cheating the government have no place to hide under the current regime.
In their desperation to muddle facts with fiction and confuse the public, Suraj and his fellow saboteurs chose to play pranks with statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics. They chose the category that relates the contribution of mining and quarrying to the Gross Domestic Product year on year, gloating over the data that it fell to N1.39 trillion, a 21 percent decline from N1.76 trillion in 2023. In this laughable instance of hypertrophy, they deliberately overlooked the data from the same NBS, which noted that the overall growth of the sector rose from 2.84 per cent in 2023 to 4.85 per cent in 2024. Also, that contribution to aggregate GDP rose from 5.56 per cent in 2023 to 5.64 per cent in 2024. And most significantly, they chose to remain blind to the miraculous jump in the contribution of metal ores from N42 billion in 2023 to N103.5 billion in 2024.
Dangote
Abiodun, a communications specialist writes from Lagos
Kehinde bamigbetan
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake Bamigbetan
How Rabiu Olowo is Repositioning Nigeria’s Financial Reporting Ecosystem
When Dr. Rabiu Olowo assumed office as the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) two years ago, few could have anticipated the scope and speed of the transformation that would follow. Precisely, Olowo was appointed Executive Secretary of the FRC on October 12, 2023.
The FRC, often viewed as a low-profile regulator tucked within Nigeria’s complex financial ecosystem, has since been thrust into national and international relevance. This was evident in his election as the Chair of the 41st session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR). The prestigious appointment was indeed a testament to Olowo’s exceptional leadership and expertise in corporate reporting.
Under Olowo’s leadership, the Council has evolved into a dynamic hub of regulatory reform, professional development, and institutional innovation, redefining how Nigeria approaches financial reporting, corporate governance, and sustainability disclosure.
The journey from October 2023 to 2025 tells a compelling story. A story of leadership rooted in vision, collaboration, and measurable outcomes. Today, each of the Council’s 7 directorates, departments and units stands as a pillar of reform, delivering milestones that collectively strengthen transparency, accountability, and investor confidence in Nigeria’s economy.
Building a Profession from Scratch
Among the Council’s most striking achievements in the past two years, is the establishment of the Nigerian Actuarial Development Programme (NADP) and the Technical Working Group to foster actuarial growth in Nigeria. Another major achievement is the issuance of Nigeria’s first-ever comprehensive Actuarial Regulatory Framework (Actuarial Practice Regulation - NAPR 2025) as an Exposure Draft. The FRC adopted the International Standards of Actuarial Practice (ISAPs 1–8) of the International Actuarial Association and initiated localisation as the Nigerian Standards of Actuarial Practice (NSAPs). This single move filled a decades-long void in the nation’s insurance, pensions, and risk-management sectors.
The issuance of the Nigeria Actuarial Practice Regulation (NAPR 2025), now exposed for public consultation, marks a historic step in formalising actuarial practice. Yet Olowo’s vision goes beyond regulation. It is about building the human capital pipeline to sustain it.
The Council’s nationwide actuarial education initiative (university and secondary-school outreach programmes) has already reached over 5,000 universities and 800 secondary school students, inspiring a new generation to embrace actuarial science. The sponsorship of six university students to undertake Society of Actuaries (SOA) professional examinations and an additional candidate for an MSc in Actuarial Science, and partnerships with NAICOM, PENCOM, NHIS, NAS and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK), SOA (USA), TASK (Kenya), among others, reflect a strategic approach: reform the system, then build the talent to run it.
By initiating the integration of Actuarial Science into Nigeria’s secondary school curriculum, the FRC under Olowo’s leadership, has sown the seeds of a self-sustaining ecosystem, one that will, in years to come, underpin more stable pension funds, more reliable insurance models, and more data-driven policy planning.
Reengineering Corporate Governance
Corporate governance has long been Nigeria’s Achilles’ heel—an area plagued by weak oversight, opaque processes, and boardroom complacency. The FRC has taken on the challenge head-on, advancing reforms across public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.
The development of a National Public Sector Governance Code (NPSGC), with a roadmap extending from 2026 to 2029, signals an important paradigm shift. For the first time, governance standards are being designed not just for corporations, but also for public institutions that handle taxpayers’ funds. Engagements with key bodies such as the National Judicial Council (NJC), Office of the Accountant-General, and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum show that the Council is ensuring inclusivity and ownership from all levels of government.
At the same time, the FRC under Olowo, is finalising the Not-for-Profit Governance Code (NNFPGC), aiming to promote transparency and ethical management in NGOs and charities, a sector often overlooked in governance discussions. The two landmark codes are currently awaiting Ministerial approval.
Beyond rule-making, partnerships with ACCA, and the rollout of SME Corporate Governance Guidelines (SME-CGG) and Business Integrity Certification (BIC), reflect an inclusive approach that brings small businesses and social enterprises into the governance net. In a political and economic environment where ethical leadership is often in short supply, these reforms stand out as tangible instruments for restoring confidence and
accountability in Nigerian institutions.
Raising the Bar on Audit Quality
No financial system can be credible without trusted audits. Recognising this, the FRC has made impressive strides in raising the quality of audit practice and oversight.
Over the past year, the Council conducted the first comprehensive practice reviews across 16 audit firms, including the Big Four, covering 143 audit engagements. This rule, which compels auditors to report suspected non-compliance by clients, has already led to over 680 compliance submissions, underscoring its deterrent impact. Under Olowo’s leadership in the past two years, the Council also organised the Inaugural Leadership Summit for Auditors, bringing together 764 participants, and launched cross-border collaborations with international counterparts such as the PCAOB (USA), IRBA (South Africa), and ICAG (Ghana).
With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Financial Reporting Oversight Board (Gambia) and the ongoing UK–Nigeria Exchange and Training Improvement Programme (ETIP), the Council has positioned Nigeria as a thought leader in African audit regulation.
By deepening cooperation with ICAN and ANAN and holding joint sensitisation sessions with nearly 900 practitioners, the Council has succeeded in building bridges between regulator and regulated, a delicate but essential balance for effective oversight.
Driving Transparency in Public Sector
Reform of public finance management remains one of Nigeria’s greatest governance challenges. The FRC in the past two years, under Olowo, has responded with pragmatic measures, conducting four regional training programmes on accrual-based International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in Abuja, Kano, Lagos, and Uyo. By training over 576 public sector accountants, the Council is strengthening the foundation of financial integrity across ministries, departments, and agencies. The impact of this initiative will be seen in more accurate, comparable, and transparent financial statements—a prerequisite for better budgeting, donor confidence, and responsible governance.
Sustainability Reporting
Sustainability reporting is fast becoming the new frontier of corporate accountability worldwide, and under Olowo’s leadership, Nigeria has become one of the first African countries to take concrete regulatory steps in this area. The FRC secured the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, along with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, for the adoption of IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability standards in Nigeria. It also launched the roadmap for the adoption of sustainability reporting standards in Nigeria in collaboration with the ISSB Chairman, and has sustained Leadership in Sustainability Reporting Adoption: Led early adoption of ISSB’s IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 standards for two consecutive reporting cycles (2023 and 2024) by Access, Fidelity, MTN and Seplat Energy, positioning Nigeria among global front-runners in sustainability disclosure compliance.
The FRC has expanded the adoption of the IFRS S1 and S2 Sustainability Standards from just 4 to 35 entities in under a year. Over 202 entities and 1,705 professionals received hands-on training on sustainability disclosure standards through 32 sector-specific engagements and regulatory roundtables, signaling a growing appetite for transparency on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.
Ezeobi: Industrialists Need Funds to Compete with Global Manufacturers Uzodimma, Assor, Others to Attend 2025 Ohaji New Yam Festival
David-chyddy eleke in Awka
The Chief Executive Officer of Zobis Cables, Mr John Ezeobi has said ndustrialists in Nigeria need government support to be able to compete with global brands.
Ezeobi, who runs an indigenous cable manufacturing company with a head office in Ogbaru, near Onitsha, Anambra State, told journalists during an interview that local brands were doing well to compete with global brands, but have limitations in funding. The manufacturer who sits atop the board of Zobis Group of Companies stated this when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring visited his factory on inspection.
He said: “Local manufacturers need protection from importers to be able to function optimally. We need protection from government. Our products compete favourably with foreign products, but we lack funds.
“Local manufacturers need funding to be able to compete. Like today, as cable manufacturers our basic raw material is copper, but we have the expertise to set up copper manufacturing firms
here, but fund is a problem, so we resort to importing it.
Chairman of the committee, Hon Boma Goodhead who led 15 other lawmakers to the factory said the House of Representatives will continue to support President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the era of dependence of imported products was over.
She said: “The House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring expresses deep satisfaction with the remarkable industrial strides recorded by Zobis Cable Nigeria Ltd, an indigenous electrical cable manufacturer located in Onitsha, Anambra State.
“Our oversight visit today reaffirms that Nigeria has what it takes to produce world-class industrial materials locally and to meet the technical demands of the oil and gas, energy, and construction sectors.
“What we have witnessed at Zobis Cable is a strong demonstration of Nigerian ingenuity, technical excellence, and commitment to national industrial growth.
“As a Committee of the National Assembly, we are particularly impressed with the company’s adherence
to the principles of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, its deployment of modern production technologies, and its ambitious drive toward value addition and import substitution. The scale of investment here shows that indigenous manufacturers are ready to compete globally if given the right policy support, visibility, and access to the oil and gas value chain.
“Importantly, this aligns with President’s renewed national drive for industrial transformation through the Presidential Directives on “Nigeria’s First Goods and Services.”
“The President has made it clear that under his administration, all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies particularly those in the oil and gas, power, and infrastructure sectors — must prioritize the patronage of locally manufactured goods and services as a strategic path to sustainable economic growth, job creation, and technological selfreliance.
“The House Committee fully supports this Presidential vision and will continue to provide the legislative muscle and oversight framework needed to ensure its full implementation across Nigeria’s
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and the traditional ruler of Assa Autonomous Community in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area, HRH Eze Emmanuel Assor, are among dignitaries expected to attend this year’s Iri Ji Ohaji (New Yam) festival. The organisers disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman of the Central Planning Committee, Hon. Golden Nwosu, and the PresidentGeneral of the Ogbako Ohaji Peoples Forum, High Chief Fidelis Enyia. According to the notice, the event will hold today, with Uzodimma as the Special Guest of Honour and Dr. Greg Obi as Chairman of the occasion. Eze Assor will serve as the Royal Father of the Day.
The Iri Ji Ohaji Festival, a major cultural celebration in the area, promotes unity, peace, and develop -
ment among the people of Ohaji. It also provides a platform for community members to review progress and deliberate on new developmental initiatives.
A statement from the organisers described the festival as “a celebration of gratitude, renewal, and togetherness,” highlighting its role in showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the Ohaji people.
The Iri Ji (New Yam) Festival is one of the most important traditional events in Igboland, marking the end of the farming season and the beginning of harvest. It is widely observed across southeastern states such as Imo, Anambra, and Enugu, where communities gather to give thanks for a fruitful harvest.
The 2025 edition is expected to attract a large turnout of guests, cultural enthusiasts, and sons and daughters of Ohaji from across Nigeria and the diaspora.
Donatus eleko
Olowo
Redesigning Skills for Nigeria, Others’ Creative Future
Out of the 55 countries in Africa, only 12 have comprehensive creative industry strategies that can withstand international demands. Yet, countries with the right strategies keep struggling with outdated training programme, poor policy alignment, infrastructure and digital access, amongst others, which continue to threaten their creative sector’s competitiveness globally.
According to an Analyst at botho emerging Markets, Muinde Mwanzia, who spoke at a virtual roundtable organised by Ananse Africa, with the theme, ‘canvas to commerce roundtable: redesigning Skills building for Africa’s creative Future’, Africa risked losing $200 billion if these structural gaps remain unaddressed.
Presenting findings from Ananse’s continental research at the roundtable held in collaboration with botho emerging Markets Group, with support from the Mastercard Foundation, Mwanzia stressed that Africa’s creative economy holds immense potential, worth about $31 billion in value and projected to hit $50 billion by 2030.
He noted that despite the sector’s vast potential and vibrant creativity, over 70 per cent of Africa’s creatives still cannot export beyond their domestic markets.
He linked this further to e-commerce knowledge gap amongst players, noting that while the sector is youth-driven, only 15 per cent are on e-commerce platforms, while women who make up majority of players are disproportionately disadvantaged in mobile Internet access and usage crucial for scalability.
“the reality, as data shows, is that the majority of creatives operate without government
support or inclusion in national planning. Many design schools and vocational institutes are still offering piecemeal, theory-based courses that ignore digital business and export skills essential for the global marketplace. besides, training centres are also clustered in urban areas like Lagos and Johannesburg, leaving a large pool of rural creatives behind.
“consequently, beyond revenue loss, the continent also risks losing millions of future jobs, particularly for youth and women, who make up the bulk of the workforce”, he warned.
He submitted that in line with the session’s objective, it has become urgent for
OTH er Bu SIN e SS STO r I e S
the industry to move from fragmentation to transformation and shift from mere potential to tangible results that drive economic growth. the roundtable convened stakeholders from business and academia circles to chart a path toward transforming the continent’s business into a thriving, export-ready industry. responding to the gaps, Founder and chief executive Officer of Ananse center for Design, Samuel Mensah stated that the center, which originally set up to promote e-commerce for fashion creatives, evolved into a holistic ecosystem which supports creative process from production to global trade.
“We found that many creatives don’t have
right skills, or have right skills but lack right tool. Also lacking is knowledge of international logistics such as processing an order, package for shipment, or managing cash flows. Hence, we evolved from being just an e-commerce platform to becoming a full-fledged training and entrepreneurship hub”, he said.
While proposing actionable steps to drive competitiveness in the industry, Mensah called for intellectual property protection for Africa’s indigenous and cultural asset. He also advocated a regulatory framework for certifying artisans, describing it as a vital step toward integrating them into the formal economy.
On his part, Founder of tikera Africa, bayo Omoboriowo called for a robust ecosystem that is end to end, such that people can train, trade, prototype and sell to ensure knowledge transfer is holistic.
Like Mensah proposed, Managing Director of Africa creative Alliance, rita Ngenzi and Divisional Head of Services, bank of Industry, Dr Isa Omagu emphasized the importance of certification throughout the skills development journey and called for strong public–private partnerships to establish creative hubs outside the capital.
As for the Director of Operations, tony elumelu Foundation, Dr. Hakeem Onasanya, transiting from creativity to enterprise demands a structured blend of training, mentorship, and funding support for entrepreneurs.
Adding an academic perspective, Lecturer in creative economies at King’s college London, Dr. Lauren england underscored the need to bridge African design education with market realities. She stressed the importance of equipping creatives with practical business skills such as cash flow management, tax compliance, and adherence to export regulations.
Nivea Rolls-out 100million Fund to Advance Child Wellness
As part of its corporate Social responsibility (cSr), beiersdorf, manufacturer of Nivea has forged a partnership with a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to caring for vulnerable children, SOS children’s Villages Nigeria to advance holistic child wellness in the country.
the partnership saw the firm, under its ‘Nivea connect’ initiative, released N100 million to the NGO to tackle the growing challenge of social isolation and mental health issue among vulnerable children and young people in Nigeria.
According to report, Nigeria loses about N21.6 billion (US$166.2 million) annually to the economic impact of mental health challenges and social isolation.
Speaking at the official presentation of the fund in Lagos recently, country Manager, beiersdorf Nigeria, Dele Adeyole described the gesture as an extension of the brand’s DNA of trust and care, reiterating further its commitment to addressing social issues affecting emotional and mental well-being.
Adeyole stated further that beyond donation, the effort was a commitment to a long-term partnership towards real Impact, and the firm’s priority for nurturing emotional bonds and community support.
He testified to the credibility of SOS children’s Villages in the partnership, citing its over five decades track record of impact in creating safe, stable, and nurturing environments
for children, as aligned with Nivea’s mission to promoting inclusion and belonging.
“As we celebrate the trust and care embedded in our brand DNA. this partnership is part of our global social mission, which runs in more than 60 countries worldwide. It’s very important for us that we’re here to fight social isolation and loneliness, a silent epidemic in our world today”, he said.
Marketing Director, beiersdorf central, east and West Africa (ceWA), Fiyin toyo highlighted the aptness of the support, stating how cases of mental health had surged in the wake of cOVID-19, while it affects individual and national prosperity.
Stakeholders Chart Path to Sustaining Family Business Legacy
Family enterprise leaders and business experts have underscored the need for stronger governance, structure, and succession systems to preserve the legacy of family-owned businesses across generations. they reaffirmed this at the just concluded third edition of the Family business Summit in Lagos, noting that it has become more important amid Nigeria’s volatile economy and rising business mortality rates.
Speaking at the three-day summit, Founder of MyFamily Mybusiness, Oghenevwoke Ighure, stressed the need for
family-owned enterprises to stay agile, purpose-driven, and innovative to remain competitive and relevant.
He stated that the summit, themed ‘Wealth Diversification and resilience in Uncertain times’ had evolved from an advocacy initiative, to becoming a growing movement championing intentional leadership and structured continuity in family enterprises.
“this platform is not only bringing family businesses together but also advocating for all things related to family enterprises. Legacy is not merely inherited but intentionally
built through systems that outlive individual success,” he said. the summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Family business Journal, the Family enterprise Network Nigeria (FeNN), a new association with a board of next-generation leaders and a documentary on the life and legacy of the late chief Adeola Odutola, one of Nigeria’s pioneering industrialists. Key sessions explored practical strategies for continuity and governance. Publisher of businessDay, Frank Aigbogun urged family business owners to institutionalise structure and adaptability as safeguards against leadership transition risks.
Report Says Human Skills Crucial to Stay Relevant in AI Era
A new report by cambridge University Press & Assessment (cambridge) has urged Nigeria to put human skills, knowledge, and values at the heart of its education system to prepare next generation for the realities of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
the report titled “Humans at the Heart of education” finds that while digital skills remain important, they are insufficient in a world where technology evolves faster than traditional learning can keep up.
It argues that the future of work will depend not only on technical competence, but also on how effectively humans and technology complement one another.
According to the report, Nigeria’s education strategy should go beyond test-based learning and focus on qualities like creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and collaboration that artificial intelligence cannot replace.
It further emphasises the need to empower teachers as central agents of change, noting that technology should enhance rather than replace their work.
the report cites a World bank-backed pilot in edo State, where teachers used AI tools to personalise lessons, achieving nearly two years of learning gains in just six weeks. this report notes that this outcome demonstrates the potential of human-technology collaboration, when trainers are placed at the centre of innovation.
the report further sets out three key pillars for global and national education systems, including building education that develops the whole person, empowering teachers as agents of change, and driving reform through collaboration between governments, educators, families, employers, and communities.
It urges Nigeria to align its curriculum with local context,
like history, culture, and language to boost learning and workforce relevance, describing moves to reintroduce history and local languages in institutions as a step in right direction. commenting on the report, Managing Director, Partnership for education at cambridge, Jane Mann reiterated that beyond digital proficiency, Nigeria must equip its young people with human-centered skills, values, and connections essential for building resilient individuals and a sustainable economy.
“this includes ensuring education remains highly local to students’ context in Nigeria, and putting teachers and school leaders at the heart of education reforms. the pace of technology means we don’t know exactly what tomorrow’s world of work looks like for today’s students, but by keeping humans at the heart of education, we prepare Nigeria’s next generation for all eventualities, “he stated.
PodFest Naija 2025: From Festival to Movement
Prosper taiwo
When Tosin Adefeko conceived the idea of the Africa Podcast Festival, it was never just about putting voices behind microphones. It was an attempt to amplify African narratives, democratise storytelling, and build a creative economy driven by authenticity and innovation.
What began as a gathering of creators, enthusiasts, and curious listeners has now evolved into a movement. Christened PodFest Naija, the podcast festival was one that challenged global stereotypes, empowered local storytellers, and positioned podcasting as a tool for cultural transformation and economic opportunity across Africa.
Adefeko’s journey, from media executive to creative entrepreneur, reflects the spirit of a generation unwilling to wait for validation. In a world where content is king, she saw a gap - Africa’s stories were often told by outsiders or filtered through narrow lenses. Podcasting, with its low barriers to entry and intimate connection with audiences, offered a remedy. For her, it wasn’t just about catching a global trend; it was about rewriting the rules of engagement for African voices in the digital era.
Indeed, at the inaugural Africa Podcast Festival, held in Lagos recently, the energy was palpable. Creators from across Nigeria and beyond shared not just microphones but missions. They were redefining journalism, experimenting with new formats, and pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an African storyteller in a digital world. It centered on celebration, collaboration, innovation and learning for the podcast ecosystem. It was a creative melting pot designed to spotlight the power of storytelling through podcasts. The event brought together storytellers, creators, brands, cultural and policy leaders for a dynamic experience designed to celebrate the voices shaping Nigeria’s podcasting community, sparking innovation through conversations on future trends and evolving audience behaviours.
“The inspiration came from a moment of clarity. The overwhelming realisation that we were already sitting inside a movement, we just needed to gather the tribe. As strategic communications consultants, we have always told brand stories; now, we are intentionally amplifying consumer-led narratives to create deeper, shared connections.
“At our core, we believe that’s life’s experiences are always in motion, better experienced through channels that connect people, communities and culture. We all crave the same things: connection and community so we must continually seek avenues to co-exist, co-create, and engage with ourselves and our stories, it is this co-dependence that makes us thrive better as humans. Our stories remind us that we are not alone and that shared experience is what makes us stronger. That’s the spirit behind Podfest Naija,” Adefeko had told THISDAY ahead of the festival, while reflecting on the purpose.
The festival lived up to expectations as it drew over 1,500 creators, storytellers, brands, and policymakers for a day of powerful conversations, cultural showcases, and innovation. Curated by the Adefeko-led The Muvmnt Studio in partnership with Eventful, the festival delivered on its promise to bring Nigeria’s most influential voices together to celebrate storytelling, collaborate across
industries, innovate new formats, and learn from leading voices shaping the future.
“Over time, we realised that everyone was working in silos, there was no platform bringing the tribe together. We knew something had to change,” she added.
In her keynote address, Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa, Minister of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy, emphasised the growing importance of podcasting in amplifying Nigeria’s creative voice globally.
“Podcasting has become one of the most powerful tools for projecting our soft power and amplifying Nigerian creativity to the world,” the Minister stated. “It is a veritable medium that transcends borders, democratising how stories are told and who gets to tell them.”
She further highlighted podcasting as a strategic tool for youth engagement and job creation.
“Our young people are not just listeners. They are creators. They are hosts. They are writers. They are sound engineers, researchers and digital entrepreneurs. Everything that speaks to that value chain from the bottom to the up. I think podcasting covers everything. Mr. President is really committed to looking at how we can fortify the future of the young people. And the only way that we can do that is by absorbing as many young people into the job market as possible.”
The festival’s lineup featured over 40 storytellers and cultural icons, including Chude Jideonwo, Tunde Onakoya, Adaora Mbelu, Rufai Oseni, Morayo Afolabi-Brown, Masoyinbo and many others, who led conversations that cut across generations, genres, and industries.
biodun Oyebanji and chairman, traditional rulers council/ Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Adejimi Adu; at the official commissioning of ekiti State revenue House in Ado-ekiti as part of activities marking the third anniversary of the Governor biodun Oyebanji administration in ekiti.
Major brands powered immersive activations throughout the venue, reinforcing the intersection between storytelling, culture, and brands. One of the day’s most anticipated moments was the unveiling of “The Next Big Podcaster,” an initiative by The Muvmnt Studio to spotlight emerging talent set to redefine the podcast space.
Pearllie Hart was announced live on stage as the winner, positioning her as a podcaster to watch under The Muvmnt Studio’s spotlight.
As Africa faces high youth unemployment, podcasting and the broader creative industries offer an alternative pathway. With smartphones becoming ubiquitous and internet access expanding, the barriers to entry are lower than ever. What’s needed, as Adefeko insists, is not permission but participation.
By empowering young Africans to tell their own stories, she’s cultivating both confidence and competence, a rare combination that transforms societies from within.
Her movement also challenges gender dynamics in media and technology. In an industry historically dominated by stereotypes, Adefeko’s leadership and commitment to female representation have inspired many. Through mentorship programs and intentional inclusion, she ensures that women are not just participants but shapers of the narrative landscape. In doing so, she redefines leadership as not merely occupying space, but creating it for others.
As Adefeko and her team look to the future, their ambitions are expansive. They envision an Africa where podcasting fuels civic dialogue, strengthens democracy, and bridges linguistic and cultural divides. The private sector, too, is beginning to see the potential. Brands seeking authentic engagement now look to podcasts for audience connection. Governments exploring citizen engagement realise the medium’s intimacy.
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L-r; ceO Lagos State AIDS control Agency , Folakemi Animashaun; Director General National Agency for the control of AIDS (NAcA), temitope Ilori ; and Director resource mobilisation and Performance Management OF NAcA, Yinka Falola Anoemuah during Private partnerships workshop on HIV prevention in Lagos ..yesterday.
L-r: chief executive Officer, Promisador Nigeria, Mr. Francois Gillet; Head, regulatory and Government Affairs, Promisador Nigeria, Dr. chinenyem Obasi-Obonga; chairman, Isolo Local council Development Area, Otunba Adebayo Olasoju; and representative of the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Anike Ad-
during Promisador Nigeria’s Harness Your Dream Initiative for Secondary School Students under education District 6, held at the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Secretariat… recently
L-r Alternate chairman, NbA Judiciary committee Nosa Francis edo-Osagie, Hon Attorney General and commissioner for Justice edo State, Dr Samson raphael Osagie; Life bencher and Member Judicial Service commission edo State, rasaq Isenalhume; Hon Justice Mathias Obayuwana and David Maduku, past secretary NbA benin branch during
commencement of the new legal year of the edo State Judiciary held in benin city
Michael Omotoyinbo; Monisade Afuye; executive chairman, Federal Inland revenue Service (FIrS), Dr Zacch Adedeji; ewi of Ado-ekiti, Oba rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe; ekiti State Governor,
L-R: CEO, Slickcity Studios, Malik Afegbua; Representative of Obi Asika, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Ed Emeka Keazor; Minister of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; CEO, AT3 Resources - The Muvmnt Agency, Curator, Podfest Naija, Tosin Adefeko; Tech Content Creator, Tobi Ayeni (Miss Techy), and Founder, Naija AI Film Festival, Obinna Okerekeocha, at the inaugural Podfest Naija 2025 event held in Lagos… recently
Nonye Ayeni: Redefining Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Story
Nume ekeghe
When Nonye Ayeni assumed office as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) two years ago, she inherited an institution at a crossroads, challenged by global trade disruptions, domestic economic headwinds, and the urgent need to diversify Nigeria’s export base beyond crude oil.
In the past two years, Ayeni has not only steadied the ship but redefined the Council’s strategic direction. This development was confirmed by the Presidency, which declared recently that the nation is witnessing a historic shift in its public finances, with non-oil revenues driving the country’s strongest fiscal performance in decades, with non-oil exports among the big wins.
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, who revealed the refreshing departure from the old cycle, had stated that between January and August 2025, total government collections peaked at N20.59 trillion, a 40.5 per cent increase compared with the N14.6 trillion recorded in the same period in 2024.
According to Onanuga, N15.69 trillion came from non-oil sources, accounting for three out of every four naira collected, describing the figures as a decisive break from decades of dependence on crude oil exports.
“This is a watershed moment for our economy. For the first time in decades, oil is no longer the dominant driver of government revenue. Reforms, compliance, and digitisation are powering a more resilient economy,” Onanuga was quoted to have said.
Also, in a chest-thumping fashion, President Bola Tinubu had said the cheering data were proof that the government’s reforms to expand the revenue base and strengthen compliance were working.
Nigeria recorded a trade surplus of N7.5 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2) as its total exports were valued at N22.751 trillion, reflecting a 28.43 percent rise when compared to the N17.714 trillion recorded by the country in the corresponding quarter of 2024, and a 10.45 percent increase when compared to N20.598 trillion in Q1, 2025.
The surge in non-oil inflows was as a result of a combination of reforms by government agencies, including the NEPC. The NEPC, under Ayeni’s leadership, has been marked by quiet determination, clear vision, and a commitment to reposition Nigeria as a competitive player in the global non-oil export space.
Under her watch, the NEPC has undergone a transformation that goes beyond policy pronouncements. From boosting value addition in priority sectors such as agriculture, solid minerals, and creative industries, to strengthen-
ing trade facilitation and capacity-building initiatives for exporters, Ayeni has driven a results-oriented agenda. Her emphasis on product quality, market intelligence, and export readiness has begun to yield tangible outcomes—expanding Nigeria’s footprint in emerging markets and attracting renewed investor confidence in the non-oil sector.
Equally remarkable is her focus on inclusivity and empowerment. Through women- and youth-focused programmes, Ayeni has opened new pathways for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access international markets. Initiatives such as the “Export4Survival” campaign have not only reawakened national consciousness about the urgency of export diversification but have also inspired a new generation of entrepreneurs to think globally. Her tenure has blended technical competence with empathy—building bridges between policy, people, and performance.
Addressing journalists on the performance of Nigeria’s non-oil sector, Ayeni had announced in August that Nigeria exported non-oil products worth $3.225 billion
Abimbola Ayoola: Championing Innovation, Inclusion in Global Medtech
When Abimbola Ayoola speaks about her work, her words carry a deliberate calm, born from a deep understanding that precision and purpose can save lives.
As a Principal Quality Engineer at Medtronic, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, her work intersects science, leadership, and human compassion. For her, quality is not just a professional metric; it’s a moral imperative.
“Keeping the patient at the centre of everything I do has always been my guiding principle,” she says while speaking with THISDAY. “It ensures that my work aligns with Medtronic’s mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life.”
Today, Abimbola leads a team responsible for ensuring that every medical device leaving Medtronic’s facilities meets the highest standards of safety and reliability. From cardiac implants to diabetic care technologies, her oversight touches countless lives across continents.
From Ibadan to the World
Abimbola’s journey began thousands of miles away from Medtronic’s global headquarters, in Nigeria, where she studied Zoology at the University of Ibadan.
Like many bright minds of her generation, she grew up with a curiosity for how the body works and a fascination with science’s power to heal. But her ambitions extended beyond traditional biological studies. She was drawn to the tangible impact of technology on medicine; how innovation could not only explain life but also improve it.
That quest led her to the University of Bridgeport in the United States, where she earned a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. The transition from zoology to biomedical engineering was not merely academic; it was transformative. It positioned her at the very confluence of human biology, mechanical precision, and computational design; the core of modern healthcare innovation.
Abimbola often describes that period as one of both challenge and revelation. “Moving to a new country, adapting to a different academic culture, and embracing a field that merged multiple disciplines; all of it taught me how to learn fast, connect dots, and stay adaptable,” she recalls.
She would later go on to earn certifications that reflected not only her technical expertise but her commitment to excellence: Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Quality Engineer (ASQ). These qualifications became the pillars of her evolving identity, not just as an engineer, but as a systems thinker and leader.
Climbing the Quality Ladder
In the world of medical devices, quality assurance is not a background function; it is the backbone of trust. A single oversight can have life-or-death consequences. For Abimbola, that reality has shaped every decision, every process, and every leadership philosophy she has embraced.
At Medtronic, she has led multimillion-dollar product launches, spearheaded cross-functional initiatives, and driven improvements that significantly reduced manufacturing errors. But what stands out is how she approaches complexity; not as a barrier, but as an opportunity to build stronger systems. One of her most challenging assignments involved a defective product that seemed minor at first glance. What began as a simple nonconformance quickly escalated into a multi-site quality crisis.
“We discovered that the issue had potential implications across multiple product lines,” she recalls. “It demanded rapid coordination, structured root cause analysis, and transparent communication with global teams and regulators.”
Abimbola guided her team through the crisis by leveraging tools such as Fishbone Diagrams, 5 Whys, and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Beyond the technical discipline, her leadership was what kept the process intact. She made sure that no team member felt isolated or blamed. Instead, she emphasised collective accountability.
“Quality challenges aren’t just technical,” she explains.
between January and June 2025, up from $2.696 billion recorded in the first half of 2024. Growth was also reflected in the export volume, which rose to 4.04m metric tonnes, compared to 3.83m metric tonnes in the same period of the previous year.
Ayeni had credited the strong showing to leadership and collaboration. “I’ll start by saying that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not just an initiative. It’s a force.” She also cited a direct result of increased global demand, improved product quality, and expanded market access facilitated by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Yet she believes the value and volume of Nigeria’s exports can grow further still.
“Value addition is the way to go, because if you add value to your products or commodities, you earn premium prices in the global market. We are working with our exporters from the farm gate through to market access and ensuring we export processed or semi-processed products.
“Instead of exporting shea nuts, the NEPC is working with women to convert them into shea butter. Instead of exporting raw leather, the NEPC is teaching women to make bags. Working with Lelook Bags Academy, NEPC set up the Export Skill Acquisition Center in the Apapa area of Lagos. “At the NEPC, we believe that value addition is the way to go. We are building their capacity, opening their minds and their horizons to see what they stand to gain when they add value.”
As part of its Corporate Social Investment, NEPC distributed 23,239 hybrid high-yielding seedlings to 3,047 farmers nationwide. These included cocoa, sesame, and oil palm seedlings, aimed at enhancing the quality and quantity of exportable produce. The South West zone received the highest allocation with 8,687 seedlings, followed by the South South with 7,500.
The Council also revived the Zero2Export Training Programme for new exporters and launched the Export Mentorship Programme (EMP), which trained 150 participants and paired 60 SMEs with top-performing exporters.
Additionally, NEPC’s collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Trade Centre (ITC) under the STDF 845 project has led to improved standards for sesame seed and cowpea, reducing export rejections and promoting Good Agricultural Practices. Furthermore, in the period under review, NEPC was selected as a pilot beneficiary of the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) fund, the only African organization among four global recipients. The fund, launched by WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will support women-led businesses in digital trade.
“They’re also about collaboration, leadership, and making patient-centric decisions under pressure.”
The issue was ultimately resolved with zero patient harm; a testament not just to her technical mastery but to her calm, strategic leadership.
Balancing Leadership and Technical Mastery
One of the toughest balancing acts in Abimbola’s career has been marrying the demands of leadership with the rigours of engineering precision. As a Principal Quality Engineer, she must make data-driven decisions while inspiring her team to see beyond checklists and compliance.
“My technical background allows me to deeply understand the product, identify potential risks, and make informed decisions,” she says. “But leadership is about empowering others, creating a culture where quality is everyone’s responsibility.”
To achieve this, she emphasises three pillars: trust, accountability, and collaboration. Her teams are encouraged to speak up, challenge assumptions, and think critically about risk. She describes quality as a shared mindset rather than a department, a philosophy that integrates seamlessly with Medtronic’s mission-driven culture.
Ayeni
Ayoola
M AD uk A OkOY e
p r IMIN g f O r TO p pOSITION ?
After months away from competitive football for suspension over Illegal betting activities, SuperEaglesgoalkeeper,MadukaOkoye,onMondaynightreturntodutypostinUdinese’s 1-1 Serie A draw against Cremonese with a statement performance.With the three-time African champions’first choice safe hands, Stanley Nwabali recent on and off field erratic behaviorwhichwasattributedtoanunavailabilityofasuitablerivalry,Okoye’sreturnisseen as a welcome development.However,with the Super Eagles tight schedule in the coming months,willOkoyeeverhearthesoundofthecockcrowatdawn.
Okoye Maduka, Monday night, returned to competitive football after months away due to suspension for illegal betting activities, a sanction that threatened to derail the career momentum he had meticulously rebuilt. His last appearance between the post was on May 25, in Serie A encounter between Udinese and Fiorentina.
Shedding light on the decision to restore the 25-year-old to the starting line-up for Monday evening’s Serie A encounter against US Cremonese, Udinese group technical director Gianluca Nani, said the Nigerian had been in outstanding form during training in the build-up to the fixture.
“Okoye has trained really well in recent weeks; it was almost impossible to score against him in training,” Nani told DAZN, via Tutto Udinese.
“We’re really happy he’s back because he’s our starting goalkeeper and there were never any doubts. But I want to thank whoever replaced him, who did very well.”
Indeed, his commanding performance between the sticks proved decisive in ensuring Udinese avoided defeat against Cremonese on Monday night.
After Nicolò Zaniolo cancelled out Filippo Terracciano’s early strike, Jamie Vardy was presented with a golden opportunity to put Cremonese ahead, only to be denied from close range by the Super Eagles goalkeeper.
Okoye’s assured display may not have gone unnoticed by Nigeria coach, Eric Chelle, who is expected to announce his squad in the coming days for next month’s crucial 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying playoff against Gabon in Morocco.
The former Watford shot-stopper earned his first appearance under Chelle in a friendly against Russia in June 2025.
However, the competition in Nigeria’s goalkeeping ranks has intensified, with Stanley Nwabali’s consistency and Adeleye’s rise, but Okoye’s blend of experience, agility, and technical refinement may give him an edge if he maintains form.
Nwabali had, in recent time, been involved in some incidents with his teammates during the last World Cup qualifiers in Uyo, as he was seen pushing stand-in captain, Wilfred Ndidi, while he was trying to calm him down after a confrontation with a Benin Republic player. While he was also involved in a serious argument with Fulham defender, Calvin Bassey after the halftime whistle.
There have been criticisms against the Chippa United shot stopper and some of his antics, especially after his mistakes in a 2-1 win over Lesotho, culminating in calls from some quarters that he should be dropped for the match against Benin
but Chelle kept faith with him.
Interestingly, former Nigeria international goalkeeper, Alloy Agu has called for stronger competition in Nigeria’s goalkeeping department, insisting that current first-choice, Nwabali will only reach his full potential if challenged by equally talented goalkeepers.
Speaking exclusively to Soccernet.ng, the former Kayserispor shot-stopper commended Nwabali’s progress since breaking into the Super Eagles setup but noted that the team must do more to support him as Nigeria continues its quest to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Agu believes that while Nwabali has shown promise, there are still technical and psychological areas the goalkeeper can improve on.
He emphasized that criticism should be constructive and aimed at helping the player grow and strengthen the national team.
“Well, number one, Stanley (Nwabali) has done well and he has kept the hope of Nigerians higher. But, like you said, there are some things that need to be pointed out, and that means also to help him and to help the team,” Agu said.
“I think I’m not going to, I don’t want to expose or talk about my goalkeeper, my player. I’ve never been a fan of that. But what I can just say is that there is room for improvement. We must look at all that he has done, identify areas he needs to improve, and where he needs
to continue doing well.
“So, areas he needs to improve, he should improve on them. But for me, I won’t go on air and talk anyhow about the
number one goalkeeper of Nigeria. I only have encouragements, and I will encourage him to do well for Nigeria because we are at a crucial stage. We want to qualify for the World Cup, and I believe all things are possible.”
This comment from the former RFC Liège star follows Nwabali’s mixed performances during Nigeria’s recent World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Benin Republic, where his communication and decision-making were slammed by the fans.
Drawing from his own Super Eagles experience, Agu revealed how healthy rivalry among goalkeepers once elevated Nigeria’s goalkeeping standards, citing the famous competition between Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, and Dele Ayenugba.
“I think Vincent (Enyeama]) had the same thing with Dele Ayenugba and Austin Ejide — and every one of us had that — so it brings out the best in us. We need such competition around him (Nwabali) also,” Agu added.
“I think there is a goalkeeper that is also doing well, John Noble, I think in Tanzania. I’ve watched some of his games and he’s doing well. So, the moment we have capable hands around Nwabali who can give him competition, I think that makes it much easier for the team.
However, how strong Okoye is able to bounce back remains to be seen, as the Düsseldorf-born goalkeeper is definitely running against time.
Maduka Okoye on his return to competitive football after serving ban betting made a save against Cremonese last weekend
Okoye
Ihezuo, Okoronkwo Give Falcons 2-0 Win over Bénin’s Amazons
Two first half goals from Forwards Chinwendu Ihezuo and Esther Okoronkwo gave reigning African champions, Nigeria’s Super Falcons a 2-0 win over their Bénin Republic counterparts in the first leg of their 2026 Women Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture, first leg in Lome, Togo.
The Super Falcons started strongly with Rasheedat Ajibade’s 6th minute lob over the Amazons’ goalkeeper Ogoun which was denied by the woodwork, while Folashade
2026 women’s AFCON r ace dominating every department of the game, the Amazons had their first sight of Nigerian goal in the 36th minute when Moumouni connected to a pass on the byline and managed to get past Osinachi Ohale to strike at goal, only to be denied by goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Ijamilusi’s strike two minutes later was parried away by Ogoun. The Beninise couldn’t hold on tight to their low block game plan as Deborah Abiodun weaved open a congested midfield with a pass to Chiwendu Ihezuo who excellently put the ball beyond the reach of the Beninise goalkeeper to give Nigeria the lead in the 23rd minute.
With the Super Falcons enjoying long spells of possession,
Deborah Abiodun was, once more, in her elements as she picked out Esther Okoronkwo with a defence-splitting pass, with the latter slotting home to double the lead for Nigeria before the stroke of halftime.
Statistics Favour Super Eagles against Gabon in WCQ Playoff
Gabon coach, Thierry Mouyouma will be worried ahead of the Panthers’ 2026 World Cup qualifying playoff against Nigeria’s Super Eagles on November 13, given his poor record against Africa’s top 10 teams in the Fifa rankings.
Africa’s top 10 currently comprise Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Mali, Cameroon and South Africa.
Since his appointment in October 2023, Mouyouma has yet to beat any of these countries, recording four defeats and one
draw.
In an international friendly against Senegal in March 2024, Gabon were defeated 3-0, before losing 1-0 to the Elephants during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Heavy losses followed against Morocco’s Atlas Lions in Afcon qualifying, with 4-1 and 5-1 scorelines.
The only time the Panthers avoided defeat under Mouyouma was in a goalless draw against Ivory Coast in September 2025.
These statistics highlight Gabon’s struggles against Africa’s elite teams since Mouyouma took charge.
Nigeria, on the other hand, will be aiming to extend their 36-year unbeaten record against Gabon when the two sides clash for a spot in the World Cup playoff final.
In nine previous meetings, the Super Eagles have won five and drawn three, with their only defeat coming in a World Cup qualifier on June 25, 1989.
At the Stade Omnisports
President Omar Bongo in Libreville, Vicoise Ondenot and Michael Minico gave Gabon a two-goal half-time lead, before Samson Siasia pulled one back for Nigeria in the 57th minute.
Amidst Osimhen’s Interest, Galatasaray President Warns Potential Suitors on Eagles Striker
Galatasaray‘s President, Dursun Özbek has warned potential suitors that Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen is not available for sale.
The26-year-oldscoredabrace at RAMS Park, becoming the first-ever Galatasaray player to score in seven consecutive European games.
Osimhen’s performances have seen him earn plaudits from a lot of people, and he’s doing very well to justify the €75m paid on him.
The Lagos State Sports Commission and the organisers of the Africa School Games have resolved to strengthen their partnership for talent discovery and development in the state, following the successful completion of the inaugural edition of the games in Lagos.
About 11 schools in Lagos took part in the three-day tournament, which featured spirited competitions in swimming, athletics, and football in the U-11, U-13, and U-15 categories. The British International School hosted the inaugural edition, with other schools like Grange School, St Savoiurs School, RiverBank School, Supreme Education Foundation, and Avi-Cenna featuring prominently.
The event was championed by sports enthusiasts, Dr Seun Akinbohun, Dr Busola Tejumola, and Aderoju Ope-Ajayi, who envision a structured school sports ecosystem built on three pillars: continental competition, talent identification, and ecosystem building.
Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Lekan Fatodu, noted that the Africa School Games exemplifies the state’s resolve for talent development and inclusive
“We know that schools provide a better environment for talents to be discovered and nurtured. This is a private initiative, but during the course of the partnership, we did make sure that the path of inclusivity isn’t left out, so we have our public schools being part of this,” Fatodu said.
“I am particularly impressed that the inaugural edition was successfully managed, and I am confident that the subsequent ones will engage more schools across the continent.”
The organisers also acknowledged the state’s effort in ensuring the success of the initiative.
“With Lagos State, we know of the Ibile Games and Governor Sanwo-Olu’s passion to drive youth empowerment through sports, and they have been amazing partners for us. Key endorsements came from Lagos State, and we are grateful for that,” one of the co-founders, Ope-Ajayi said.
Meanwhile, after three days of spirited competition in swimming, athletics, and football, the inaugural Africa School Games concluded with a dazzling display of talent and teamwork at the British International School, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Sunday, October 19.
The event brought together young athletes from 11 schools, competing across U-11, U-13, and U-15 categories. Beyond the medals and podium finishes, the Games highlighted the vast potential within Africa’s grassroots sports ecosystem. Points were awarded based on medal performances, with several Lagos schools dominating the leaderboard. Hosts British International School, Grange School, RiverBank School, Supreme Education Foundation, and St Saviours School all featured prominently.
St Saviours emerged overall winners in the U-11 category with 1,042 points, while Grange School topped the U-13 category with 1,168 points. In the U-15 division, British International School and Grange School were tied at the top, each scoring 909 points.
Reflecting on the success of the inaugural edition, the organisers have also expressed their readiness to welcome schools from other African countries in subsequent editions.
“Absolutely, that is our plan. We will definitely have swimming, athletics, and football. Next year, we will be ready to host the whole of Africa in Lagos. We are ready for as many that can come.
“Osimhen’s contract does not have an exit clause. He is extremely successful and will serve Galatasaray for many years,” the 76-yearold said in quotes revealed by Fanatik.
“It may be said that the amount we transferred (to Napoli) was high, but today the price of the football public service is low and the player’s value is much higher.
“Every footballer’s contract we make is very transparent.
The club’s president was in awe of the Nigerian’s performance against the Norwegians, and he was delighted that there wasnoreleaseclause in Osimhen’s contract.
Contracts in accordance with the rules of TFF and UEFA. Our values that suit Galatasaray and our march to success will continue unchanged,” the Turk concluded.
The club’s vice president, Abdullah Kavukçu, also joined in to laud the former LOSC Lille striker for his brilliance in front of goal.
“There are players in the world worth €140m, but Osimhen is more talked about. They put in a bid much higher than ours in Naples, you can confirm.
“There’s been a lot of talk, we got it in the final. We had money like that, we got it! Galatasaray is a very big community.
NBA Rosters Feature Record 135 International Players from 43 Countries
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that a record 135 international players from a record-tying 43 countries across six continents are on opening-night rosters for the 2025-26 season.
Among the record 135 international players are more than 55 players who were either born in Africa or have at least one parent fromAfrica, including 2021 NBA champion and two-time Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria), 2022-23KiaNBAMVPandseventime NBA All-Star Joel Embiid
NBA rosters
(Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon), 2019 NBAchampion and three-time NBAAll-StarPascalSiakam(Indiana Pacers; Cameroon) and 2023-24 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year and 2025 NBAAll-Star Victor Wembanyama (SanAntonioSpurs;France;tiestothe Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Opening-night rosters feature at least 120 international players for the
fifth consecutive season and at least 100 international players for the 12th straight season. All 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player.
The previous record for international players (125) and the record for countries and territories represented (43) were set at the start of the 2023-24 and 2017-18 seasons, respectively.
Toyota (Nigeria) Limited has announced the return of the prestigious Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Toyota Golf Tournament, set to tee off from November 7–8, 2025, at the world-class Smokin Hills Golf Resort, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State. Afterafive-yearbreakduetothe COVID-19 pandemic, the tournamentreturnswithrenewedvigour and exciting enhancements.
Staged consistently by Toyota (Nigeria) Limited since its inception, the tournament is held in honour of the late Chief (Mrs.) Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo, a woman
of remarkable virtue whose legacy continues to inspire excellence, especially among women in sports.
“The Elizabeth Wuraola Ojo Toyota Golf Tournament is more than a sporting event — it is a celebration of legacy, integrity, and enduring values,” said Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo, Managing Director of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited.
“This year’s edition promises an unforgettable experience for all participants and guests.”
In a major highlight for 2025, the Hole-in-One prize money has been doubled from 5 million to 10 million,
reflecting Toyota’s commitment to raising the stakes and enhancing the prestige of the tournament.
TheeventwilladopttheShotgun Start format as in previous editions, offering a dynamic and synchronized start to the invitational tournament.
The tournament schedule includes: November 7: Professional golfers from across Nigeria take on the challenging Smokin Hills course from 7:00 AM.
November 8:Amateur men and womengolfersshowcasetheirskills starting 7:00 AM.
Salami Charges Local Governments to Drive Grassroots Sports Growth
Public policy expert and sports advocate, Dr. Muideen AdegboyegaSalami(MASA),has called for greater investment in community sports development across Nigeria, describing it as a vital tool for empowering young people,promotingunity,reducing social vices, and alleviating youth poverty.
Speaking from his base in the UnitedStates,Dr.GboyegaSalami said that local governments, being the closest tier of governance to the people, must take the lead in building strong foundations for sports at the grassroots level.
“Local governments must be deliberate about using sports as a development tool,” he said. “They have the proximity, structure, and community trust to identify and
nurture young talent. This is the time to invest in facilities, coaching, and regular competitions that give young people a sense of purpose and belonging.”
Dr. Salami, who has championed grassroots sports through the “MASA Isonyin Half Marathon,” said his experience has shown how community-led initiatives can transform lives and spark local pride.
“What we’ve achieved with the Isonyin Marathon proves that when you bring sports closer to the people, you create more than just athletes—you create opportunity,” he explained. “Sports can drive inclusion, peace, and even economic activity in smaller towns and rural communities.”
He emphasised that a strategic approach to grassroots sports would
reduce youth unemployment and restiveness, while also strengthening national unity.
“A single sports event can bring hundreds of people together,” Dr. Salami noted. “It inspires young people, supports small businesses, and fosters collaboration among communities.”
Super Falcons
Athletics event at the maiden Africa School Games in Lagos last weekend
LSSc Partners Africa School Games as Lagos Schools Shine at Maiden edition scouting.
Wuraola Ojo toyota Golf tournament returns After Five-year Hiatus
CHANGE OF BATON AT AFREXIMBANK...
OBINNA CHIMA
obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com
Whither Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme?
When Mr. Olayemi Cardoso assumed office as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in September 2023, he made clear his resolve to refocus the apex bank on the path of orthodox monetary policy.
True to his words, since then, the central bank has continued to roll out policies focused on strengthening banks’ capital buffers, curbing regulatory forbearance, financial system stability and price stability. This has also seen the regulatory body stepping back from direct development finance interventions, which some of his predecessors were heavy on. As a result of that decision, initiatives such as the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Commercial Agric Credit Scheme, among others, were suspended, at a time when the country badly needed to shore up farming activities to provide livelihood for most of its rural poor, support job creation and food security.
In Nigeria, farming is more than just an economic sector; it’s the lifeblood of livelihoods, a cultural cornerstone, and the bedrock of sustenance. For decades, rural agriculture suffered from inefficiencies such as a lack of access to quality seeds, poor distribution networks, limited investment opportunities, and difficulty in obtaining other farm inputs. Millions of smallholder farmers continue to struggle to sustain their livelihoods, owing to changing weather patterns, poor market access, among others. Owing to that, the country’s teeming natural resources and agricultural potential continue to face formidable challenges in harnessing its agricultural prowess to ensure both food security and prosperity.
To achieve food security, boost agricultural productivity, especially among smallholder rural farmers and fight poverty, the ABP was introduced in 2015, under the administration of late former President Muhammadu Buhari. Launched by the CBN under its former Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in an All
Progressives Congress (APC) administration, the ABP was introduced to provide smallholder farmers with access to credit and inputs to boost local production, particularly of staple crops such as rice, maize, and cotton. The programme was a major pillar in Nigeria’s push for agricultural self-sufficiency. While it was operational, the ABP reportedly recorded successes.
It was designed to link smallholder farmers to larger buyers or processors and to channel bank credit into farming. Its stated goals included creating an ecosystem that connects producers with markets, increasing commercial bank lending to agriculture, boosting capacity utilisation in agri-business, raising farmers’ productivity and incomes, and reducing rural poverty.
Part of its guidelines stipulate that upon harvest, benefiting farmers are to repay their loans with produce (which must cover the loan principal and interest) to an anchor, who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account. The scheme provided in-kind and cash loans for inputs (seed, fertilizer, etc.) through participating banks. Small farmers join organised groups under an Anchor, typically a large processor, commodity association, or state programme, which
guarantees an off-take market for their crops. According to CBN's data, more than four million farmers benefited across 21 agricultural commodities. Rice production in Nigeria reportedly increased from five million metric tonnes to about eight million tonnes within six years, while rice importation dropped by nearly 50 per cent. Additionally, the number of mega rice mills in the country grew to around 50.
With the CBN scaling back on its development finance initiatives, the logical next step would have been for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to step forward and take ownership of the ABP, institutionalise its gains, and continue supporting smallholder farmers under a more transparent, budget-driven structure, to support the country’s quest for food security.
Yet, for almost two years after its suspension by the CBN, the Agric Ministry has failed to act decisively. No credible framework has been unveiled to absorb the programme, and the vacuum left behind has continued to hurt Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.
Farmers who once relied on seasonal support through the CBN’s intervention have been abandoned, and input suppliers have scaled down operations.
The ABP, a key initiative that once linked finance with food security, has effectively ended, raising concerns of policy inconsistency in the country.
This clearly, is another story of how policy inconsistency and institutional fragmentation continue to undermine Nigeria’s economic development. Countries that have lifted millions from poverty, built competitive economies, and achieved political stability, did so by adhering to long-term, consistent policies, regardless of whether they liked the face of the initiator or which administration introduced them.
Despite the drop in the food inflation rate to 16.87 percent on a year-on-year basis in September 2025, due to the effects of the rebasing, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s food affordability crisis remains acute. Today, poor households
spend up to 70 per cent of their income on food as the price of basic food basket has risen significantly.
The World Bank, in its latest report on Nigeria, revealed that 139 million Nigerians still live in poverty, amid food inflation and insecurity.
“Food inflation affects everyone, but hits the poor the hardest. It also threatens to undermine political support for reforms,” the bank stated, stressing the need to introduce initiatives to fight poverty.
Therefore, reviving and properly managing the ABP under the Ministry of Agriculture becomes paramount because this programme has the potential to contribute to poverty eradication, transforming Nigeria’s rural economy by empowering smallholder farmers and boosting food production.
The insurance sector has also been negatively affected by the failure to sustain this programme. This is evident in the poor performance recorded by the agriculture insurance sector. Agriculture insurance, a critical risk management tool that helps farmers avoid financial losses and keep their businesses running, has declined since the suspension of the ABP.
From the foregoing, while the ABP may not have been perfect, it was one of the initiatives by the government that recorded significant success in enhancing crop output among beneficiaries, particularly in the rice farming sector, indicating a positive contribution to agricultural productivity. That is why (is) ITS neglect by the Ministry of Agriculture is disturbing. As Nigeria grapples with food inflation, poverty, and shrinking household income, reconsidering the ABP will go a long way to support food security in the country.
The CBN has done the right thing by returning to orthodox monetary policy. It is now left for the Ministry of Agriculture to step forward to fill this gap by adopting this programme, and through development finance institutions such as the Bank of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry, rekindle hope to small-scale farmers scattered all over the country.
Kyari
L-R: Incoming President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Afreximbank, Dr. George Elombi; Outgoing President, Prof. Benedict Oramah; former Presidents, Mr. Jean Louis Ekra, and Mr. Christopher Edordu, at a farewell ceremony organised for Oramah in Cairo, Egypt…yesterday
