Author: user user

’41.1% of Nigerian children under-five stunted’

The Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) said yesterday that 41.1 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted.

It added that 19.2 per cent of the 41.1 per cent is severely stunted, with the case being worse in the Northwest, where the rate is 58.2 per cent.

The NSN, at its 56th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the society in Lagos, also said that almost half of women of reproductive age are anaemic.

It pointed out that Nigeria’s latest nutrition indicators remain a major warning and called for urgent action.

Also at the event, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said only six per cent of pregnant Nigerian women completed at least 180 days of iron-containing supplementation in 2024, far below the national target of 70 per cent by 2035.

NSN, through its President, Salisu Abubakar, said that Nigeria has continued to face significant micronutrient deficiencies, particularly in the intake of vitamin A, zinc and folic acid.

The society lamented that Nigeria is considerably off the trajectory required to achieve the World Health Assembly nutrition targets and Sustainable Development Goal 2.2 by 2030.

It urged the government to connect nutrition-specific interventions with food systems, health systems, education, social protection and water, sanitation and hygiene.

Vice President Shettima, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health and Focal Person on Nutrition in the Office of the Vice President, Mrs Uju Rochas-Anwukah, also said only 30 per cent of women of reproductive age achieved minimum dietary diversity, against a 60 per cent target by 2035.

Shettima said the figures demonstrate the scale of the nutrition challenge facing the country and its implications for human capital development.

He warned that nutrition policies should be judged by the lives they improve rather than the number of policies and regulations produced.

‘Policy fails when it treats those stages at separate rooms,’ she said, stressing that nutrition must be addressed as a continuum from childhood through adolescence and adulthood.

According to him, anaemia resulting from poor nutrition weakens women and children, worsens pregnancy outcomes, reduces learning capacity and ultimately affects national productivity.

He called for stronger coordination among the health, agriculture, education, social protection, water and sanitation sectors, as well as greater involvement of the private sector and local governments.

The Vice President said the National Council on Nutrition’s Nutrition 774 initiative remained the government’s framework for taking nutrition interventions to all 774 local government areas and placing responsibility closer to communities.

He also urged the effective use of the national nutrition dashboard as an accountability tool for evidence-based governance.

Shettima said food fortification should be assessed based on its impact on reducing micronutrient deficiencies rather than the number of regulations issued.

He further called for adequate and timely financing of nutrition programmes, insisting that budgets must be released on time and public expenditure be subjected to measurable community impact.

Shettima pointed out that ‘good intentions do not feed a child.

NSN’s Board of Trustees Chairman, Muhammad Sanusi, called for nutrition to be treated as a central pillar of Nigeria’s development and human-capital agenda rather than a programme reserved for moments of crisis.

Sanusi said Nigeria must move from fragmented interventions to coordinated systems, short-term projects to sustained investment and commitments on paper to accountability in practice.

He also urged increased and protected nutrition financing through dedicated budget lines, timely fiscal releases and expenditure tracking.

The board chairman demanded accelerated action in the Northwest and other high-burden states, saying equity should be at the centre of the national nutrition response.

He called for the urgent passage and implementation of the Nutritionists Registration Council of Nigeria Bill, saying a statutory framework was needed to regulate the profession and protect the public.

Sanusi also called on stakeholders to ensure that findings from national nutrition surveys translated into state-specific policies, budgets and interventions.

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency would continue collaborating with the NSN to improve food safety, nutrition and consumer protection.

Adeyeye, in a goodwill message to the conference, highlighted NAFDAC’s recently launched ‘Read the Food Label’ campaign, urging greater public awareness and collaboration among regulators, nutrition professionals, academia, industry and policymakers.

She said sustained collaboration was necessary to ensure Nigerians had access to safe, wholesome, nutritious and appropriately labelled foods.

The keynote speaker, Dr Mansur Muhtar, warned that Nigeria cannot continue to rely heavily on development partners to finance nutrition programmes as global funding priorities and resources come under pressure.

Muhtar called for greater domestic financing, saying the government must allocate sufficient resources to nutrition and protect such funds from political and fiscal risks.

He also urged the government to ensure that increased funding produced measurable results.

According to him, every naira allocated to nutrition should be linked to outcomes, with stronger systems for transparency, monitoring and reporting.

He advocated innovative financing mechanisms capable of attracting private capital into nutrition, while urging the private sector to support food systems through responsible investment, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

Muhtar said financing alone would not resolve Nigeria’s nutrition crisis, stressing the need for effective policies, strong institutions and accountability.

He also called for a broad coalition involving government, parliament, private sector, civil society, academia, media, traditional institutions and communities.

Katsina State Governor Dikko Radd said at the event that his administration has spent N1.7 billion on targeted nutrition interventions aimed at reducing malnutrition among vulnerable families in the state.

Radda, represented by his deputy, Faruk Jobe, added that the government also spent more than N30 billion on food and other support for vulnerable households.

He said the state had introduced six months of paid maternity leave to support exclusive breastfeeding and scaled up iron and folic acid supplementation for pregnant women.

The governor also revealed plans by his government to establish a local nutrition food factory to produce nutritious food for children.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dayo Lajide, said nutrition requires coordinated action across government ministries, professional bodies, academia, development partners, communities and the private sector.

Lajide, who chaired the opening ceremony, said Lagos State is strengthening collaboration across health, education, agriculture and food security, social protection, water and sanitation and other sectors because nutrition outcomes were influenced by factors beyond healthcare.

He called for stronger evidence-informed policies, improved nutrition data, better surveillance and monitoring systems and innovative approaches to reach vulnerable groups, including women, children, adolescents, older persons and economically disadvantaged communities.

He also urged stakeholders to ensure that the conference produced practical actions and measurable improvements rather than resolutions and presentations alone.

The NSN conference theme is ‘Delivering Better Nutrition for All: Connecting the Dots Across Life Cycles, Systems and Sectors.’

Ugandans to access PET scan services in December

The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) management has indicated that they are expediting processes to complete the establishment of a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) centre to improve cancer diagnosis and survival rate in the country.

A PET scan reveals how body organs and cells are functioning, making it easy for medical experts to detect microscopic (tiny) abnormalities like cancer cells that other technologies like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans may not or cannot detect.

Dr Nixon Niyonzima, the UCI head of research and training, told this publication that they expect PET scan services to be available to Ugandans by December.

‘The PET bunker is ready, and the machine is actually being shipped,’ he said.

A bunker is a heavily shielded, custom-built room designed to entirely contain high levels of radiation or the room housing a medical cyclotron.

A cyclotron is a particle accelerator used to manufacture the short-lived radioactive isotopes -unstable chemical element that releases radiation as it breaks down to become stable.

The isotopes are required for diagnostic scans, like PET scans, according to cancer doctors.

‘Government has provided funding for the equipment and the bunkers ,’ Dr Niyonzima said.

He was commenting on the mounting public concern about the delays for the country to have the machine in the country despite the large numbers of cancer deaths in the country.

Growing concern

This concern has increased following reports that the late Omukama (King) Oyo Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Tooro Kingdom had to travel to Nairobi to access a PET scan, technology absent in Uganda, after months of misdirected care in Kampala’s top private hospitals left his aggressive cancer undetected.

The concern about the lack of the PET machine became a major national issue in 2022 after the death of Parliament Speaker Jacob Oulanyah.

Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, then Minister of Health, told Parliament in April 2022 that the procurement of the PET machine was on course.

‘This financial year, Parliament appropriated Shs45b to procure a PET scan for the Uganda Cancer Institute and the contract was signed yesterday. So, we shall have a PET scan,’ Dr Aceng said.

She noted then that Parliament also appropriated money to construct a nuclear medicine unit that will house the PET scan and a linear accelerator, including the type that late Oulanyah was seeking in Seattle, USA.

Dr Niyonzima, in an interview with the Daily Monitor on Sunday, explained why the establishment of this has delayed.

‘Part of the delays were the need for a cyclotron to produce the radio-isotopes also now under construction. This is also fully funded now.’

‘However, in 2020 the priority was radiotherapy. Although funding was provided, we had one radiotherapy machine at that time,’ he added.

Data from UCI and the World Health Organisation indicates that around 35,968 people develop cancer every year in Uganda and about 24,629 die, with the majority dying without getting the right diagnosis or treatment.

No 3+1 or 5+1 meeting on Cyprus issue expected on UNGA margins, Guterres says

No 3+1 or 5+1 meeting on the Cyprus issue on the margins of the UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday, noting that ‘there is still a lot of work to be done’, but also stressing that “we are determined to move things ahead”.

Responding to a question from the Cyprus News Agency during the press conference ahead of UNGA81- on whether, following his recent conversation with his Personal Envoy for Cyprus, he judged that the conditions he had set in July have been, or were now being met for a possible 3+1 or even 5+1 meeting, the Secretary-General ruled out such a meeting during UNGA.

‘Not on the margins of UNGA,’ Guterres said. ‘There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are determined to move things ahead,’ he added.

The Secretary-General stressed that the United Nations remained committed to advancing the process and creating the conditions for a future meeting to produce results.

‘We are determined to do everything possible for that to take place when conditions are met for the meeting to be successful’ he said.

Guterres also underlined the need to avoid repeating unsuccessful approaches from the past. ‘We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past’ he said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term nears its end, announced he would convene another meeting in broader format, after adequate preparation, but gave no timeline. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.

Catholic Bishops Demand Probe Into SHS Placement

The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called for an independent review of the ongoing Senior High School (SHS) placement exercise amid allegations of bribery, unfair admissions, inappropriate school placements and the growing influence of ‘protocol’ arrangements.

The Bishops said although the Computerised School Selection and Placement System was introduced to promote fairness and equal access, persistent challenges continued to undermine public confidence in the process.

In a statement signed by the President of the Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani, the Bishops said the placement exercise must be transparent, accountable and responsive to genuine complaints.

The Conference said 604,567 candidates qualified for placement this year, but only 527,932 had been placed when the results were released.

It acknowledged that placement depended on several factors, including academic performance, programme choices, boarding or day preferences and available spaces. It, however, insisted that the outcomes must be understandable and demonstrably fair.

The Bishops expressed concern over reports of students being placed in schools considered unsuitable for their sex, disability, personal circumstances or location.

They were particularly concerned about cases where students were assigned to day schools located so far from their homes that daily commuting could become expensive, unreasonable or unsafe.

The Conference called for genuine placement errors to be corrected swiftly and for appropriate arrangements to be made for students with disabilities.

It also expressed concern over allegations that parents were being asked to pay money to secure places for their children.

The Bishops stressed that no official, agent or intermediary should demand or accept payment where placement was intended to be free. They called for investigations into such allegations and said anyone found culpable should face disciplinary action and, where necessary, criminal prosecution.

On the controversial issue of ‘protocol’ admissions, the Conference demanded greater transparency, saying the public deserved to know the legal basis, number of places involved, criteria used and persons responsible for such arrangements.

It warned that the placement system could not command public confidence if parents believed that money, political connections or influence could secure places for some children at the expense of others.

Mission schools

The Bishops also renewed their call for the implementation of their decision to reserve 20 percent of annual admissions in Catholic mission schools for Catholic candidates.

They said the decision was reached at the National Catholic Education Forum in Koforidua in 2025 and, therefore, was not a new demand.

According to the Conference, the arrangement would help mission schools maintain a meaningful population of Catholic students who could participate in their religious and moral formation.

The Bishops further called for the long-awaited agreement between the government and the Churches on the management of mission schools to be concluded and signed without further delay.

They said the agreement should clearly define responsibilities relating to admissions, governance, the appointment of head teachers, religious and moral formation, discipline, infrastructure and accountability, while protecting the distinct identity of mission schools.

The Conference also proposed an accessible appeals mechanism, periodic reviews of school categories and increased government investment in infrastructure, teachers, laboratories and learning materials to ease pressure on highly sought-after schools.

It maintained that technology should support justice rather than replace human responsibility and urged the government to build a placement system in which merit, choice, fairness and the best interests of the child determine admission outcomes.

Women’s Premier Super Cup Returns In September

The Women’s Premier Super Cup will return in 2026 as an off-season competition ahead of the new Women’s Premier League season.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed that the tournament will be held from September 23 to 29 at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence (GSCE) in Prampram.

The competition will feature the top four teams from both the Northern and Southern Zones of the Women’s Premier League, with eight clubs battling for the Super Cup title.

Dreamz Ladies are the reigning champions after making history in the 2024 edition as the first team from the Northern Zone to win the trophy.

They defeated Ampem Darkoa Ladies 2-1 in the final, with Sarah Nyarko and Stella Nyamekye scoring for Dreamz Ladies.

The 2026 edition is expected to provide the participating clubs with valuable competitive preparation ahead of the new league campaign, while giving players an opportunity to regain match fitness during the off-season.

Nairobi 2029: Surprise is that it took this long

There was something revealing about the immediate reaction to Nairobi being awarded the 2029 World Athletics Championships hosting rights.

Not the disappointment in London. That is perfectly legitimate.

London staged an excellent World Championships in 2017, had a substantial bid backed by about £45m (Shs237b) in public funding and had assembled a serious proposition.

The tone

It was the tone. The familiar vocabulary appeared quickly – snubbed, shock, heartbreak, failure.

One British newspaper went further, making Kenya’s doping record the central reason why World Athletics had supposedly made the wrong choice.

And elsewhere, Nairobi occasionally disappeared from the headlines. The story became ‘Africa’ getting the Championships.

That is profound. Nairobi did not beat London and Rome because Africa needed a consolation prize.

It beat both because, on this occasion, World Athletics decided that Nairobi presented the more compelling proposition.

The other European bidder, Munich, got the 2031 nod.

Sebastian Coe, hardly an outsider to British athletics, described Nairobi’s bid as ‘compelling and emotional’.

More importantly, World Athletics pointed to the substance behind it – strong operational planning, financial guarantees, a renovated Kasarani Stadium and Nairobi’s growing experience of hosting major international athletics.

The choice also completed a geographical sequence that is difficult to dismiss as some great injustice to Europe.

Beijing hosts in 2027, Nairobi in 2029 and Munich in 2031. Asia, Africa, Europe. Three continents, three editions.

That is not the death of European athletics. It is what an international federation looks like when it remembers the word ‘international’.

And perhaps that is the uncomfortable part of this conversation.

The world is considerably larger than Europe and the United States.

Kenya, of all countries, should not need to explain why.

Kenya has the numbers

Athletics is not something Kenya has recently discovered in preparation for a bid.

It is part of the country’s sporting DNA. World Athletics itself describes Kenya as one of the great athletics nations, while its own fan research found that 68 per cent of Kenyans surveyed rated their interest in athletics as high, compared with a global average of 39 per cent.

Kenya was the most athletics-interested market surveyed.

Then there are the numbers. By the end of 2025, Kenya had won 182 World Championships medals – 72 of them gold – second only to the United States’ 469.

At the Olympics, Kenya had amassed 124 medals, 117 of them in athletics.

At the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Kenya won seven gold medals and 11 medals overall, finishing second on the medal table. Great Britain won five medals and no gold.

That is not an argument that Kenya is entitled to host because it wins medals.

Hosting requires considerably more than sporting excellence.

But sporting excellence matters. Especially when the sport in question is athletics.

For decades, Kenya and Ethiopia have supplied the world with some of its most extraordinary distance runners.

Kip Keino. Catherine Ndereba. Paul Tergat. David Rudisha. Eliud Kipchoge. Faith Kipyegon. Haile Gebrselassie. Kenenisa Bekele.

The names keep coming. And the championships kept going elsewhere.

There is something almost absurd about the world’s most consequential athletics competition repeatedly travelling to countries with perfectly legitimate hosting credentials while the regions producing such an extraordinary proportion of its champions remained spectators to the business of hosting.

Nairobi has earned the stage

Nairobi has already shown that it can handle the responsibility.

It hosted the World U18 Championships in 2017. It hosted the World U20 Championships in 2021.

The Kip Keino Classic has become an important meeting on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold circuit.

And Kasarani is undergoing a major overhaul ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

World Athletics specifically cited Nairobi’s previous hosting experience, operational planning and infrastructure investment in assessing the successful bid.

This is not a city being handed a world championship and told to figure it out. It has been building towards this.

Indeed, Nairobi previously bid for the 2025 Championships, only for Tokyo to win.

The second attempt came with a stronger proposition and considerably more experience behind it.

Kipchoge understood the argument long before the vote. During the campaign, he put it rather beautifully.

‘Giving Kenya the chance is giving back to the sport.’

He went on to point to Kenya’s decades of medals, records and Diamond League success, arguing that the opportunity to host would be a gift to both Kenya and Africa.

Then came Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian great whose sporting rivalry with Kenya never prevented him from recognising what this moment means beyond national borders.

‘When I congratulate the Kenyans, indirectly I congratulate ourselves and the Africans as well,’ he said after the announcement.

‘World Athletics Championship has come to African soil for the first time.’ Exactly.

Kenya’s doping problem is real. It should not be minimised, romanticised or waved away because Nairobi has won a hosting vote. The integrity of the sport must remain non-negotiable.

But it is also possible to acknowledge that problem without reducing an entire athletics nation to it.

World Athletics knows the issue exists. It also knows what Kenya has contributed to the sport, what its athletes have achieved, what its fans bring to athletics and what hosting can do for the development of the sport on the continent.

The organisation has explicitly pointed to Kenya’s sporting record, public passion for athletics and hosting experience in explaining the decision.

That is why the decision matters beyond a stadium in Kasarani.

Africa is not an alternative

For years, the global sports calendar has had an almost predictable centre of gravity.

Europe and North America have dominated the hosting conversation, with the rest of the world too often treated as an emerging alternative rather than an equal part of it.

Look at the Fifa World Cup. South Africa hosted in 2010, becoming the first African country to stage the tournament.

Russia followed in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Each time, different controversies surrounded the choice, and some criticism was entirely legitimate.

But there was also a recurring undertone – that the event had somehow travelled beyond its natural home.

That idea needs retiring. Europe is not the world. Britain is not the world. America is not the world.

They are important parts of it. So are Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Doha, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai and countless other cities that increasingly expect to be treated not as interesting alternatives, but as part of the main conversation.

And this is not an argument against London.

London will host major athletics again. Its stadiums, crowds, organisation and history will remain valuable to the sport.

British disappointment can coexist perfectly comfortably with African celebration.

What should not coexist comfortably is the assumption that when an African city wins a global sporting right over a European one, the first question must be what is wrong with the African choice.

Sometimes the more interesting question is what took so long.

Nairobi’s moment has arrived. The remarkable thing is not that Africa is finally hosting the World Championships.

It is that, given Kenya’s astonishing record in athletics, it took until 2029.

NAIROBI 2029 – THE ATHLETICS CASE

Kenya by the numbers

182

World Athletics Championships medals won by Kenya through 2025

72

Of those medals that are gold

469

World Championships medals won by the United States, the all-time leader

124

Kenya’s total Olympic medals through Paris 2024

117

Kenyan Olympic medals won in athletics – 94.4 per cent of its Olympic total

11

Kenya’s medals at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, including seven golds

2017

Nairobi hosts the World U18 Championships at Kasarani

2021

Nairobi hosts the World U20 Championships

2029

Nairobi becomes the first African city to host the World Athletics Championships

Customs Seizes 56 Containers In Rivers

The Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) has seized 56 containers laden with vegetable oil, assorted used clothing and tomato paste with a total Duty Paid Value of over N5.53 billion at the Onne Port, Rivers State for floating concession directives.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, who disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, said the 56 containers including 45 containing over 1.1million litres of vegetable oil, 9 containing assorted clothings and two with tomatoes pastes, were earlier declared as plants, spare parts, and machineries by the importers.

He said the seizures were made following an intelligence-driven review of operations involving cargoes destined for Free Trade Zones in the country.

He said the service discovered a flagrant abuse of incentives and waivers granted by the Federal Government to operators in Special Economic Zones and Free Trade Zones to encourage local production and exports.

He said: ‘We have come to undertake a review of our operations to ensure that our quest to facilitate trade is not exploited to inflict damage to the local economy.

‘As we facilitate trade and ensure prompt clearance of imported goods through our ports, we must also ensure that local producers of the same products get justice,’ Adeniyi said.

According to him, the Federal Government allows operators in free zones to import raw materials, plants and machinery duty-free, and in some cases, goods under import prohibition, but investigations show the concessions are being abused.

He said the Onne Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, through risk-based profiling, discovered that importers operating in free zones had imported 45 containers of vegetable oil branded ‘Delicious and Poor’ brand.

He said each of the 45 containers contained 1,050 jerry cans of 25 litres each, totaling over 1.1 million litres of vegetable oil with a Duty Paid Value of N4,252,500,000.

In addition, nine 40-footer containers of used clothing valued at N1,045,580,000 and two 20-footer containers of foreign tomato paste valued at N232,000,000 were also intercepted, bringing the total to 56 containers valued at N5,530,080,000.

Adeniyi explained that the 56 containers were falsely declared as machinery, plants and spare parts with the intention of diverting them into the local market instead of taking them to the free zones for manufacturing activities.

‘The remarkable thing about these containers is that they were declared as machinery and spare parts. When we discovered them during physical examination, we discovered they were vegetable oil and it is obvious that the intention of the importer is not to take them to free trade zones for any manufacturing activities, but to introduce them into our local markets,’ he said.

He recalled that less than a month ago, the Cross River/Akwa Ibom Command seized two 40-footer containers of vegetable oil destined for the Calabar Free Trade Zone which were being diverted, while records showed about 40 other containers of vegetable oil had earlier been taken into the Calabar Free Trade Zone.

He said: ‘These 56 containers were seized because they were imported in contravention of Sections 55 and 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.

‘We are going to initiate court processes leading to condemnation and final forfeiture. Number three, all those involved, whether importers, agents, shipping companies, I have directed our legal unit to initiate their prosecution.

‘Number four, we will undertake a comprehensive audit of all containers whose customs processes were suspended and moved to Tinapa Free Trade Zone. Until all transferred containers are properly accounted for, no further transfer of containers to Tinapa Free Trade Zone will be allowed.’

The Customs Comptroller-General also commissioned a reconstructed Primary Healthcare Centre in Ebubu, Eleme local government area of Rivers State, built by the Port Harcourt Area II Command, Onne, describing it as a milestone in the transformation of the NCS into a modern, professional and responsive institution.

Ashanti Minister Halts School Demolition Plan

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, and the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ahafo Ano South West, Abubakar Sedik, have denied reports that a classroom block at Mankranso is being targeted for demolition to pave the way for the construction of a 24-hour market.

The controversy followed the circulation of a viral video in which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Officer for the constituency, Baabi Dehyee Kwaku, appealed to traditional leaders and other stakeholders to intervene to save the school facility from demolition.

Mr. Kwaku expressed concern over the alleged move, claiming that projects initiated and constructed under the previous NPP administration were being targeted for demolition to make way for other projects, including the proposed 24-hour market.

He called on traditional leaders and influential stakeholders in the district to intervene before the classroom block was pulled down.

The video generated widespread attention on social media, triggering public and political debate over the fate of the facility and the proposed market.

Mr. Sedik, however, dismissed the allegation as ‘false, misleading and politically motivated propaganda’, insisting that there was no plan to demolish the classroom block.

‘Let me state categorically that no one is going to demolish the said school building to construct the 24-hour market,’ he said.

He explained that the classroom block was constructed in 2022 but had remained unused since its completion.

According to the DCE, the construction of the facility at the time constituted a misplaced priority, considering other pressing development needs confronting the district.

He said the proposed 24-hour market was a major economic initiative intended to boost trading activities, create employment and stimulate socio-economic development in Mankranso and the wider Ahafo Ano South West District.

Mr. Sedik urged residents to disregard what he described as politically motivated misinformation and assured them that the Assembly remained committed to development and improving living conditions in the district.

Dr. Amoakohene, in a separate statement, also debunked reports of plans to demolish the school facility for the proposed market.

‘My attention has been drawn to a viral video circulating on social media concerning alleged plans to demolish a school facility in the Ahafo Ano South West District for the construction of a 24-hour market,’ he said.

He assured the public that the school had neither been demolished nor would it be demolished.

‘I therefore urge all citizens to remain calm and disregard any claims or speculation until the review is completed and the facts are clearly established,’ the Regional Minister said.

Dr. Amoakohene disclosed that he had directed the Ahafo Ano South West District Assembly to immediately halt all activities related to the matter pending a review.

‘I have also summoned the relevant stakeholders to my office for a full review of the matter,’ he added.

The Regional Minister said his priority was to protect the public interest and ensure the orderly implementation of development projects across the region.

The controversy comes amid wider concerns raised by the Minority in Parliament over the government’s 24-Hour Economy Market Programme, particularly allegations that existing public and community assets were being demolished to make way for new markets.

Nigeria’s Disturbing Organ Trade

The disturbing reports of kidney harvesting and organ trafficking particularly around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and neighbouring Nasarawa State is a sad reflection on the broader failures in public health infrastructure and oversight functions in Nigeria. This illicit business involves private hospitals working with network of agents who recruit vulnerable young people often from low-income satellite communities to either deceptively harvest or get them sell their kidneys.

In a case which gained attention lately, a young man discovered a missing kidney after a procedure. On August 9, 2026, operatives of Nigeria Police Force’s Special Tactical Squad arrested four suspects in Auta Balefi, Karu LGA, Nasarawa State. The four include an alleged recruiter and medical doctors linked to a hospital at Life Camp, Abuja. Police said one of them has already confessed to luring a 22-year-old to the hospital in April 2026 where a kidney was harvested for about N1.7 million. Another alleged victim from 2022 reportedly received N7 million.

But it was a three-month undercover investigation by Daily Trust titled ‘Inside Abuja’s Kidney ‘Market’ Where The Rich Prey On The Poor’ that exposed the shadow economy of illegal organ trafficking operating in the FCT and the neighbouring Nasarawa State communities of Mararaba and Masaka.

This inhuman trade is widespread because the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and other illnesses exacerbates kidney diseases which drives replacement therapy.

A 2025 review reported that approximately 11 per cent to 19 per cent of adults in Nigeria live with chronic kidney disease (CKD), meaning roughly one in every seven to eight people is affected. Studies and reviews show higher rates are often observed among older adults and females. Globally, the World Health Organisation estimates that 674 million people are living with chronic kidney disease, with most affected people in low- and middle-income countries.

Between 2015 and 2020, data presented by medical experts indicates that at least 651 kidneys were trafficked and illegally transplanted in Nigeria. Globally, it is estimated that thousands of kidneys are sold illegally around the world every year. Reports indicate that individual kidneys in the underground Nigerian market have been sold for amounts from N1 million (in low-income targeted recruitment) up to N7 million for direct donors, while being resold downstream sometimes for foreign patients for between N50 million to N70 million.

Largely, the fertile ground for this is effectuated by lack of functional organ banks, absence of deceased (cadaveric) donation programmes, and weak enforcement of the National Health Act of 2014 which was meant to regulate organ donation and transplantation in the country. Yet, this is a dangerous business that is not excusable under any circumstances.

Daily Trust calls for immediate and full implementation of all provisions of the National Health Act especially the areas that address consent, commercial trade, and authorisation. In fact, Section 48 of the Act on Informed Consent mandates that tissue or organs (including kidneys) can only be removed from a living person with the appropriate informed consent of the donor. The law also strictly prohibits the sale, buying, or commercial trade of human organs and tissues for financial gain, while requiring that transplant and removal procedures take place only in authorised hospitals or health facilities by registered medical practitioners. Recent reports underscore the failure to implement stronger regulation and enforcement of transplant standards as specified in the Act.

We hereby urge the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to treat organ commercialism as an issue of critical national concern by enforcing Section 20 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015 which gives it the statutory power to investigate, arrest, and prosecute networks involved in human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal.

It should collaborate closely with the Police to track and dismantle organ harvesting syndicates while working with parental and youth groups in helping their members in looking out for fraudulent employment or educational offers that act as fronts for organ harvesting.

We also urge NAPTIP to lead in sustained undercover operations against perpetrators while ensuring rapid response to reported cases and prosecution of traffickers, medical facilitators and others involved in the abominable business. All perpetrators must face the law to serve as deterrent to others.

Moreover, there should be expansion of access to early prevention and treatment of kidney diseases through ensuring a transparent national transplant register and waiting lists in order to ensure that legitimate needs are met through ethical channels rather than the illegal black market. We also urge the implementation of enlightenment campaigns using mainstream and social media, community, religious and traditional leaders towards creating awareness on the evils of organ harvesting. We implore credible NGOs and advocacy groups to increase their focus on anti-trafficking and organ ethical standards.

Government should also increase access to poverty alleviation measures and creation of social safety nets which will reduce the number of people who may be tempted to sell their organs for survival. We insist that the wrongful practices of underground medical black market organ trafficking must stop.

Inflation Eases To 15.39% Amid Rising Cost Of Living

Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped marginally to 15.39 percent in the month of August, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics has shown.

The report said the figure was down from 15.43% in July 2026 and stood at 23.14% in the same month of the preceding year (August 2025).

Looking at the movement, it explained the August 2026 Headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.04% compared to the July 2026 Headline inflation rate.

On a month-on-month basis, the inflation rate in August 2026 was 0.71%, which was 0.86% lower than the rate recorded in July 2026 (1.57%).

‘This means that in August 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2026.’

It added that Food inflation rate in August 2026 was 19.57% on a year-on-year basis and stood at 25.30% in the same month of the preceding year (August 2025).

Also, on a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in August 2026 was 1.02%, down by 4.55% points from July 2026 (5.56%).

‘This shows that the average prices of food items are increasing at a decreasing rate in August 2026.’

It said the drop in food inflation rate was attributed mainly to changes in the average prices of Palm Oil, Carrots, Pepper, Onions, Cassava Flour, Beef, Yam Flour, Water Yam, Melon (Egusi), Fresh Ginger Fresh Fish, Irish Potatoes, Wheat Grain, Frozen Chicken, Turkey Meat, Yam Flour, among others.

‘The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 15.70%, which was 14.15% points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2025 (29.86%).’

In states, it said all Items rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Lagos (23.68%), Zamfara (22.56%), and Enugu (22.06%), while Sokoto (2.11%), Kebbi (3.72%) and Jigawa (3.81%) recorded the lowest rise in Headline inflation on a Year-on-Year basis.

On a Month-on-Month basis, the highest increases in Rivers (6.92%), Osun (5.61%) and Kano (5.59%), while Anambra (-8.83%), Bauchi (-7.13%), and Borno (-7.09%) recorded the lowest rise in the Month-on-Month inflation.

For Food Inflation, increase on year-on-year basis was highest in Adamawa (38.85%), Zamfara (37.96%), and Bayelsa (36.20%), while Borno (-4.04%), Jigawa (-0.23%) and Kebbi (3.47%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis.

‘On a Month-on-Month basis, however, August 2026 Food inflation was highest in Katsina (9.48%), Rivers (8.86%) and Osun (8.32%), while Taraba (-12.42%), Borno (-12.15%), and Bauchi (-8.88%) recorded the slowest rise.’

…Inflation still high – Report

Inflation remained a major concern for households and businesses in August 2026, according to a recent inflation expectations survey report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The Inflation Perception Index stood at 39.6 points in August, down slightly from 40.0 points recorded in July.

While the decline was modest, respondents appeared increasingly hopeful that inflationary pressures would moderate in the months ahead, with expectations projected to fall to 19.9 index points next month.

Among households, the proportion of respondents who considered inflation to be high edged down marginally, from 67.3 per cent in July to 67.2 per cent in August. Businesses recorded a more noticeable improvement, with the share perceiving inflation as high falling from 65.4 per cent to 61.8 per cent during the review period.

The experience of inflation, however, varied considerably across different categories of businesses and households.

By business size, micro enterprises recorded the highest inflation perception index at 101.4, followed by medium-sized businesses at 63.3, large businesses at 63.1, and small businesses at 57.4. On the other hand, small businesses recorded the highest perception of moderate inflation at 32.3 per cent, followed closely by large businesses at 31.8 per cent, medium enterprises at 27.8 per cent, and micro businesses at 24.7 per cent.

Geography also played a role in how households experienced rising prices. Rural households were more likely to perceive inflation as high, with 65.7 per cent reporting a high perception of inflation, compared with 63.2 per cent among their urban counterparts.

Income differences were even more pronounced. Households earning below N70,000 recorded the highest perception of inflation at 68.4 per cent, while those earning above N450,000 recorded the lowest at 30.8 per cent. The figures highlight how rising prices continue to weigh more heavily on households with lower incomes.

Despite these pressures, respondents expressed greater optimism about the future. The survey showed that both households and businesses anticipate a gradual decline in inflation over the next three and six months.

Among businesses, 16.9 per cent expected inflation to moderate over the next month, while the proportion rose to 29.4 per cent when respondents considered the next six months. Similarly, 23.2 per cent of households expected inflation to moderate over the six-month period.

The survey also captured the continuing impact of inflation on expenditure. In August, 60.1 per cent of firms reported that inflation had increased their expenditure, compared with 51.9 per cent of households.

Inflation remains a significant burden, particularly for low-income and rural households, while businesses continue to face higher operating costs. Nevertheless, the stronger expectations of moderation over the medium term suggest that respondents are beginning to see the possibility of some relief ahead.

Many Nigerians who spoke to Daily Trust insist that despite the drop the inflation remains very high. ‘This one is a mere statistics,’ said a Lagos resident, Mr. Ayodele Segun, adding, ‘Prices of food items are still costly and the truth is I don’t even believe in this figure.’

…Inflation may ease while prices remain elevated – Expert

A financial analyst, Asalu Adegboyega Yinka stated that there is ‘difference between macroeconomic performance and household welfare.’

He explained that economic growth does not automatically translate into higher living standards.

He said, ‘What matters to households is whether their real disposable income is growing faster than the cost of food, housing, transportation, healthcare, education and other essential goods and services.

‘Even when inflation is decelerating, prices may still be rising-only at a slower rate. Therefore, a decline in the inflation rate does not mean that the cost of living has fallen.

‘Nigeria also faces structural challenges, including weak real wage growth, high unemployment and underemployment, low productivity, infrastructure deficits, elevated energy and transportation costs, housing shortages, income inequality and limited access to affordable credit.

‘Therefore, the real test of Nigeria’s economic recovery should not be limited to GDP growth, rising reserves or exchange-rate stability.

A stronger macroeconomic balance sheet is important, but economic stability is only meaningful when it eventually translates into improved purchasing power and a better quality of life for ordinary Nigerians.’