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Ghana Secures ‘Visit Ghana’ £10m Shirt Deal With Sunderland

Ghana has secured a private sector led initiative that will see ‘Visit Ghana’ on the front of jersey of English Premier League side Sunderland Football Club for the 2026/2027 football season.

The partnership with Sunderland AFC could put Ghana directly in front of football audiences across the UK and around the world.

The initiative is expected to give Ghana valuable exposure through Premier League matches, digital platforms and international media.

The announcement has already attracted attention in Ghana and the UK.

The partnership could also help grow interest in Ghana travel from the UK, especially among people who may already have a connection with Africa or are simply curious about the country behind the name on the Sunderland shirt.

The project was first announced by Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin in August, when he told Parliament that discussions with Sunderland were at an advanced stage. At the time, however, he did not announce a financial value or say that an agreement had been completed.

‘We are entering a formal engagement with them to put Visit Ghana on their jerseys and all paraphernalia. We have gone far with the discussions, and they are showing interest,’ Bagbin said.

He was clear about the source of funding for the proposed project, rejecting any suggestion that Parliament was paying for the sponsorship.

‘This is not being sponsored by Parliament. In fact, the main sponsor is from the private sector. We are leading under my canopy to get this done,’ he said.

He also acknowledged the involvement of the Ghana Football Association, the Ministry of Sports and Recreation and the Ministry of Finance, but described their role as support for the initiative rather than confirmation that government was financing the sponsorship.

Albert Alos transcends

I may have spent years researching uncertainty and writing about it, but I still do not like being taken by surprise.

The ultimate master of uncertainty, who can be excused because He put us on notice from the get-go, surprised me again. He called up a source of encouragement for me, more than half of my adult life, Albert Ijebu Alos, to where there are many mansions. And the news came to me out of the blue. I had been making ready to catch up with him on Wednesday. But alas.

In this transcendental excursion of man, ironies abound aplenty. It was one such irony that I should learn that Professor Albert also joined the ages at 40,000 feet above the Atlantic in an aeroplane as I turned on wifi.

For more than 36 years, my many travels were an opening note of our greetings whenever Prof. Alos and I met.

When I turned on WhatsApp on the flight from which I am scribbling these thoughts and saw the message, the surprise made me not so sure which to do first: say a prayer, begin to write a tribute before my brain reminds me that it is aging, or smile at the likely fact that he would be saying where he is: Patito, where are you coming from or going to again?

Albert Alos, with whom I sat at meetings every Monday during the early years of the Lagos Business School when he served as Dean, was a man whose heart overflowed with love, dedication to service and placing the Creator at the zenith of all human activity.

I had met him before I met him. There were these expatriates who came to Mass at St Anthony’s in Gbaja, Surulere, where I went to Mass on holidays from Loyola College Ibadan and UNN, before heading off to grad school in the US. I would find that, on my return to establish a career, he was one of them. They lived around the corner, on Ishawu Adewale, close to my family domicile on Oseni Close, in Surulere.

Years after I returned to Nigeria, I was drawn to the opportunity of means of formation offered by the people of Opus Dei that helped the conscience struggle to refresh and seek the compass to the true North. It was there we formally met.

When the idea of a business school began to be discussed by members of Opus Dei I was an executive in industry who wanted to be a teacher. We soon became close partners trying to build something from nothing.

The Lagos Business School would emerge from those efforts with the gracious giving of so many others and the kind prayers of many more.

The sense of the magnitude of what was accomplished came the day we both journeyed to the NUC to receive the license of the university, when the NUC invited us to help them with how the case study method works.

The fuel was faith and Albert Alos had a tank full of that fuel.

His energy, willingness to sacrifice, quickness to counsel and readiness to smile no matter how daunting the audacity of play would become a mirror of reflection.

And when the impossible becomes possible, he offers a hug and says, ‘Patito, we have to give thanks.’

His training may have been engineering, a discipline in which he led education in three Nigerian universities before the founding of LBS, but building was clearly in his DNA.

He built structures as he built people and culture.

He never tired of soliciting assistance for initiatives that advanced the common good.

My life was enriched because our paths crossed. The prayer I offer as incense of gratitude for love poured out to this beneficiary and so many others now chanting a chorus of blessings to the creator is that the words of supplication rise with the angels as escort for this leader who served, in the voyage of transcendence, to the city where a crown awaits.

From the entity triumphant, we ask that he who has gone ahead remember some of us still battling the waves of the entity militant.

Cricket Cranes chase third straight title

he Cricket Cranes arrive at the ILT20 Continent Cup carrying the weight of defending two successive titles, but also the excitement of a squad being given a fresh look.

Uganda open their campaign against Sierra Leone at the Gahanga Cricket Stadium today, beginning a tournament in which the defending champions want to blend youth, experience and a winning mentality ahead of next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier in Nigeria.

Steve Tikolo’s troops arrived in Kigali on Sunday morning after a 12-hour bus journey from Lugogo and have since had two days to recover, bond and acclimatise to the conditions.

Assistant coach Jackson Ogwang believes even the long journey served a purpose.

‘The bus ride helped us gel. It was a bonding session,’ Ogwang said.

That togetherness will be important for a Uganda side that has undergone significant changes after the team’s recent 50-over campaign in Tanzania.

Seven emerging players who have already been exposed to the national setup have been included as the technical team seeks to widen the T20 player pool.

But Uganda are not short of experience.

Captain Riazat Ali Shah and vice-captain Kenneth Waiswa remain at the heart of the side, while players such as Juma Miyaji, Cosmas Kyewuta and Joseph Baguma provide an established international spine.

New blood, old ambition

Convenor of Selectors Nehal Bibodi said the changes are part of a deliberate plan to prepare Uganda for the future.

‘We have selected a little younger side, so we are looking into the future. It is a combination of the senior side at the same time with very promising young players,’ Bibodi said.

Yet there is no room for a learning-at-all-costs approach.

Bibodi has demanded nothing less than another title, setting the bar high for the new-look group.

‘We are expecting this team to do well in the tournament – nothing less than winning the tournament,’ he said.

That expectation reflects Uganda’s standing in the competition.

The Cranes won the inaugural Continental Cup in Nairobi in 2023 before successfully defending their crown in Kigali in 2024. The competition was not held last year.

Ogwang believes Uganda’s T20I ranking of 21 should also give the players confidence.

‘Our T20I ranking of number 21 tells the story that we are the big boys here and we want to play as that despite us bringing a young squad,’ he said.

Sierra Leone test

Sierra Leone will provide the first examination of that confidence.

The West Africans arrived in Kigali on Monday night and immediately faced a tough opening assignment against Kenya on Tuesday, with the East Africans posting 204 in their 20 overs.

Uganda, meanwhile, had already enjoyed a full training session at Gahanga on Monday, working through all departments and adapting to the hot Kigali conditions.

That preparation gives Uganda a chance to start sharply against opponents who will have had less time to settle.

For Waiswa, however, Uganda cannot afford to read too much into their opponents’ opening result.

The hunted

‘The guys are hungry to deliver. And we have practiced well for this and would also love to continue doing well as we prepare for the Nigeria showdown,’ the vice-captain said.

‘Everyone will want to beat us but for us our goal is to win the third successive title.’

Uganda face Sierra Leone today before continuing their league campaign against Botswana, Rwanda and Kenya before the latter stages.

The top four advance to the semi-finals, with the final scheduled for September 19 at Gahanga Main Oval.

For a team that has already conquered this competition twice, the challenge is not simply to win again.

It is to discover whether the next generation can carry the same standard.

And against Sierra Leone today, that journey begins.

ILT20 CONTINENT CUP

Today’s Fixture

Uganda vs. Sierra Leone,

10am, Gahanga Stadium

CHRONOLOGY

Format: League

Rounds: 2

Teams: 5

Top two: Final

Date: September 19

Venue: Gahanga Cricket Stadium

The clock on the wall

The first commercial internet cafes in Manila charged by the hour and kept a wall clock above the cashier. Teenagers watched the hands move while trying to stretch their pesos into one more round of Counter-Strike. Access was a privilege and supervised, not a birthright. The current talk of blocking Facebook for Filipinos under 16 wants that clock back.

Philippine authorities have raised the possibility of blocking Facebook nationwide to stop fake news, misinformation, and online abuse, with ‘saving democracy’ in one breath and ‘protecting the children’ in the next.

Facebook became the successor to Friendster and Myspace in 2004. Apparently it has taken more than 20 years to figure out the general corrosion that comes from giving a billion-dollar engagement machine direct access to a child’s brain. But fake news is not the big reveal about Facebook. The chief priests in Matthew paid the guards at Jesus’ tomb to spread a story they knew was false, that ‘his disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ The smartphone only spreads it faster.

Public harassment is older still. Genesis records Potiphar’s wife pressing unwanted sexual advances on Joseph and then falsely accusing him when he refused. What Facebook adds is that a billion people are reached at scroll speed.

Societies understand that alcohol is profitable, socially embedded, and therefore legal. However, we also understand that you do not carelessly hand a bottle of gin to a 14-year-old. Age is supposed to be checked not because the state is almighty, but because a line has been drawn. Even if teenagers still drink, the line exists and it shapes behavior. Social media is in a similar place being an addictive and mood-altering product engineered to keep the user consuming.

Manila’s own hesitation tells a story. Palace officials say there is ‘no FB ban now,’ and Meta is ‘cooperating,’ a generous word for a company still working out how to identify which of its users are minors in the first place. Meta agreed to pay as much as US$18 billion to settle claims brought by 29 American states, and to install curfews and daily caps for any account identified as belonging to someone 13 to 17 years old. The settlement gives Meta one year to figure out how to make that identification.

But nobody currently knows how to guarantee a high level of proof-of-age success. The company’s options are a government identification document, a mandatory selfie, or an algorithm that estimates age from browsing behavior, each one gathering more of the personal data the lawsuit settlement exists to protect. In October 2025, a breach at a third-party customer-service provider exposed the government IDs of 70,000 Discord users, which is what happens when the fix for one failure becomes raw material for the next.

Australia, Indonesia, Brazil, and Malaysia already enforce some nationwide restrictions on most social media accounts for minors. Australia bans outright, with proposed fines for noncompliant platforms up to A$99 million. Indonesia and Malaysia restrict under-16s from ‘high-risk’ platforms. Brazil requires accounts for anyone under 16 to be linked to a parent or guardian. The four countries with new regulations are having problems with enforcement.

Months after Australia barred anyone under 16 from holding a social media account, teenage usage rates of major social media apps has climbed back almost to where it was before the ban. Regulators and researchers point to lying about age, age checks that fail, and VPNs. The common thread is that verifying a stranger’s age from behind a login screen remains effectively unsolved. The private-sector Know-Your-Customer systems were built for banks and never designed as a population-scale social media age gate. Any rule Manila writes will be as leaky as the rest.

A Facebook ban will not fix the misinformation and online abuse problem. What it will do is hand the failure blame for a job Filipino parents, schools, and courts have been avoiding to an algorithm on a platform. Meta will sign whatever memorandum keeps the story off the front page and out of the courts. Its business model was built to maximize minutes watched, not minors protected, and no cooperation agreement rewrites that.

The wall clock above the cashier never needed a law behind it. It needed a parent walking through the door at nine, asking why a 12-year-old was still there. No law reaches into that house, and neither does an algorithm. Manila can legislate an age floor and call it protection. The clock only worked because somebody at home was watching it, and that job was never Meta’s to begin with, or the government’s today.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

TRINIDAD-COURT-Venezuelan woman charged with cruelty to a child

A 23-year-old Venezuelan woman will return to court on October 5 this year after she was granted TT$60,000 (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) on a charge of cruelty to a child and one count of wasteful employment.

The woman appeared before Master Kateisha Ambrose-Persadsingh in the Siparia Court south of here on Monday on the charges following an incident which occurred on August 20, 2026, when she told police that she had found a baby abandoned along the roadway.

She said she heard a baby crying, and saw the newborn inside a plastic bag in the box, with the umbilical cord still attached.

But the police said that based on enquiries conducted, intelligence gathered and information received, she was detained on September 3 and three days later, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said that Deyanira de los Angeles Gomez be charged with one count of cruelty to a child and one count of wasteful employment.

When she appeared in court on Monday, the Venezuelan national was not represented.

Cyprus-Greece-Egypt leaders reaffirm strategic cooperation in El Alamein meeting (2)

Energy, security and regional developments were at the centre of an informal trilateral meeting between Cyprus, Greece and Egypt in El Alamein on Tuesday, with President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reaffirming the strategic importance of cooperation among the three countries for stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In statements following the trilateral meeting, President Christodoulides described the trilateral as ‘informal in form but strategic in substance’, referring to the significance of the recent Final Investment Decision on the Kronos gas field, which, he said, marks Cyprus’ transition into an era of natural gas exports to Europe through Egypt’s infrastructure.

The Egyptian President placed emphasis on the Egypt-Greece electricity interconnection and on the prospect of transporting Cypriot natural gas to Egyptian infrastructure for re-export to European markets. He also highlighted the importance of defence and security cooperation in addressing regional challenges.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reaffirmed Greece’s support for the GREGY electricity interconnection and referred to the prospects of transporting Cypriot natural gas via Egypt to Europe.

The three leaders also discussed developments in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Libya, reiterating their support for a two-state solution and respect for international law.

Trilateral cooperation has acquired ‘strategic depth’, Christodoulides said

President Christodoulides thanked President el-Sisi for the invitation and hospitality, saying that the trilateral cooperation, which has been in place for more than a decade, is based on mutual trust and common goals and has acquired ‘strategic depth’.

He said the four main pillars of the cooperation are stability, connectivity, security and cooperation in the wider region, noting that the sixth trilateral meeting of the Defence Ministers will take place in Cairo in less than two weeks, while the Foreign Ministers will meet in New York at the end of September. He also expressed his expectation of hosting the 11th trilateral summit in Cyprus.

Referring to the recent Final Investment Decision for the Kronos gas field in Cyprus’ EEZ, President Christodoulides said it ‘seals Cyprus’ transition into an era of natural gas exports to continental Europe, through Egypt’s infrastructure’.

‘The Eastern Mediterranean can become a reliable alternative energy corridor to Europe,’ he said, stressing the importance of trilateral cooperation in the energy sector.

On regional developments, the President said the aim is a peaceful and stable Eastern Mediterranean and wider Middle East, with an end to hostilities, de-escalation and peaceful resolution of disputes.

Regarding Gaza, he reiterated Cyprus’ support for a two-state solution and opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinians, noting that the maritime humanitarian corridor from Cyprus complements land routes through Egypt and Jordan.

He also expressed support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for Syria’s unity and good-neighbourly relations based on international law. He stressed that, as three maritime states, Cyprus, Greece and Egypt consider freedom and safety of navigation, sea routes and energy infrastructure a strategic priority.

President Christodoulides also referred to Egypt’s role as a pillar of regional and European security and stability and thanked President el-Sisi for Egypt’s long-standing support in efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. He noted that during Cyprus’ recent Presidency of the Council of the EU, EU-Middle East relations were a ‘top priority’.

In a post on X, the Presidency of the Republic said energy, economy and security were high on the agenda, along with regional and international developments, while the three leaders reaffirmed the importance of the trilateral framework in promoting stability, security and development in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region.

Egypt-Greece electricity link a ‘real milestone’, says el-Sisi

President el-Sisi described Cyprus-Greece-Egypt cooperation as a model of strategic regional cooperation based on mutual respect, common benefit and international law.

Energy was at the centre of his remarks, with el-Sisi describing the Egypt-Greece electricity interconnection as a ‘real milestone’ for regional energy integration. He also referred to plans for transporting Cypriot natural gas to Egyptian infrastructure and re-exporting it to European markets.

He highlighted the importance of coordination in defence and security in addressing regional challenges, as well as opportunities for further economic and investment cooperation.

On Gaza, el-Sisi rejected the ‘displacement of Palestinians’ and any ‘change in the demographic composition of the Palestinian territories’, calling for the full implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian assistance. He reiterated support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Regarding Libya, he supported a Libyan-led political process, elections and the withdrawal of foreign forces, fighters and mercenaries. On Syria, he stressed the importance of preserving the country’s unity and territorial integrity, while calling for de-escalation and political solutions in Sudan and the Horn of Africa.

Trilateral cooperation a model for stability, Mitsotakis said

Prime Minister Mitsotakis described the meeting as informal but substantive and as a continuation of last year’s successful 10th trilateral summit in Cairo. He said the trilateral is a ‘model in favour of stability and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean’ and ‘is not directed against any country.’

On energy, he reaffirmed Greece’s support for the GREGY electricity interconnection. Referring to the prospects for Cypriot gas exports, he said: ‘Gas produced in Cyprus will be transported to Egypt, use its infrastructure to be liquefied and can return to Europe through Alexandroupolis to meet the needs of countries in southeastern and central Europe.’ He described this as a ‘model of energy cooperation.’

On Gaza, Mitsotakis expressed support for a just peace based on a two-state solution, stressing the need for unhindered humanitarian aid and the disarmament of Hamas. He reiterated Greece’s support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for a unified Libya, with a UN-led political process and free elections.

Regarding the Cyprus problem, he reaffirmed Greece’s support for a fair and sustainable solution within the UN framework and Security Council resolutions, and for the resumption of talks.

Mitsotakis also stressed the importance of freedom of navigation and respect for international law and the Law of the Sea, saying maritime zones should be delimited through dialogue. He cited the partial maritime delimitation agreement between Greece and Egypt as an example.

‘This has been, is and will be our approach overall, both in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean. Greece threatens no one and seeks stability through functional good-neighbourly relations, always on the basis of international law,’ he said.

Concluding, he said the strong EU-Egypt relationship is an investment in the stability and prosperity of the common neighbourhood, describing the Cyprus-Greece-Egypt trilateral as a ‘stable axis of prosperity and security.’

From an environmental crisis to an economic one?

five years after the MV X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank off Colombo, spilling plastic pellets and chemicals along Sri Lanka’s western coastline, the environmental case has largely been settled in the country’s favour. The economic one has not. As compensation proceedings drag on, unresolved and increasingly contested, the dispute has quietly shifted shape, from a question of damages owed for an environmental disaster to a question of whether Colombo can be trusted to run a global shipping hub. The longer that ambiguity persists, the more it exposes Sri Lanka’s standing as a premier transshipment center, sitting just miles from one of the world’s busiest trade routes.

The numbers explain what’s at stake. Nearly 100,000 ships cross the Indian Ocean each year, carrying about 30% of the world’s containerised cargo and 42% of its oil and petroleum products, connecting Europe and Africa to Southeast Asia and beyond. Colombo sits at the center of that traffic, but location alone won’t secure its future if a fair settlement isn’t reached soon.

Shipping and logistics contribute around

$ 2 billion, 2.5% of Sri Lanka’s GDP, and support 40,000 to 50,000 jobs, rising to $ 7.5 billion once transport is included. The Port of Colombo handled 8.29 million TEUs in 2025, still well behind India’s roughly 25 million TEUs across all its ports combined, and the government’s 2026 target of 15 million TEUs now looks unlikely.

Between 75% and 80% of Colombo’s cargo is transshipment, passing through to other destinations, a role that leaves Sri Lanka deeply exposed to global supply chain disruptions, as the country already learned during its recent economic crisis. Sri Lanka is a signatory to the international maritime conventions that govern shipping safety and liability, but shipping experts often cite the X-Press Pearl case as proof of a wide gap between what the country has committed to internationally and what its domestic laws actually enforce.

Having weathered the pandemic and its aftermath, followed almost immediately by a macroeconomic crisis, Sri Lanka needs a faster path back to normal. The sooner cases like this are resolved, the sooner growth and stability can follow. Shipping and logistics run on networks, and to anchor one, Sri Lanka has to operate by the same rules and systems that make global trade function. That means matching its actions to the standards it has already agreed to uphold

A hub under strain

Sri Lanka’s ambition to become a logistics hub for the wider Indian Ocean region depends heavily on foreign investment, in port infrastructure capable of handling the largest container vessels, in logistics parks and smart warehousing, and in the digital systems global shipping firms bring with them.

That ambition took a hit recently when plans for what would have been South Asia’s largest logistics hub, and one of Colombo Port’s most high-profile investments, were cancelled. The decision had nothing to do with the X-Press Pearl case, but it’s a reminder that investor hesitation, like carrier hesitation, is a real risk, one that could cost Sri Lanka the investment, technology and jobs it badly needs.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority is preparing a new tender process, shaped by policy changes tied to the IMF programme, though the setback still slows the country’s broader logistics ambitions. Not everything has stalled: the SLPA’s East Container Terminal has added capacity, and Adani Group’s Colombo West International Terminal is progressing.

In August, government officials met the World Bank to explore how instability in West Asia might work in Sri Lanka’s favour for logistics, a theme that also shaped May’s EU-Sri Lanka Business Roundtable on Sri Lanka’s role as a maritime and logistics gateway. None of that ambition survives contact with investor hesitation, which is exactly what prolonged legal uncertainty invites.

The cost of uncertainty

Reliable supply chains depend on insurance, the mechanism that lets carriers and cargo owners take on real financial risk. Nearly 9.8 billion tonnes of cargo cross the Indian Ocean each year, backed by that same insurance architecture. Good regulation can build the confidence a shipping hub needs to thrive, but incidents like the X-Press Pearl disaster, and how they’re handled afterward, can just as easily erode that confidence, pushing up risk premiums for shipping through Colombo and deepening the hesitation the country can least afford.

While no one questions the fact that Sri Lanka has the right to ask for compensation, the compensation should be commensurate with the damage, while government taking into account the economic cost to uncertainty stemming from arbitrary decisions and from lack of meaningful engagement with the investors. For an international maritime centre, the manner and timeframe in which major disputes are resolved become part of the risk calculation made by ship owners, insurers, investors and cargo interests.

A transparent, timely and credible resolution would prove something more valuable than geography: that Colombo isn’t just well placed for global trade, but genuinely equipped to run it.

The writer is the immediate past president of the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council (SLSC). He has also served on the board of the UK-based Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) since 2015, and has chaired it since 2018, giving him a prominent voice in global shipper advocacy alongside his work locally.

Three-storey building collapses in Abuja, rescue operations ongoing

A three-storey commercial building has collapsed in the Wuse area of Abuja, with emergency agencies conducting search and rescue operations amid uncertainty over the number of people who may have been affected.

The FCT Emergency Management Department (FEMD) said it received a distress call at about 7:20 p.m. on Monday, September 7, and immediately mobilised emergency responders to the scene.

The FCT Police Command, however, said it received the distress call at approximately 7:45 p.m., identifying the location as Abidjan Street, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.

FEMD described the location as Wuse Zone 4.

In a statement issued by Nkechi Isa, Head, Public Affairs, FEMD, on Monday in Abuja, eyewitness accounts indicated that there were no casualties as of the time of the statement.

The statement said, however, that search and rescue operations were still ongoing as responders awaited the arrival of an excavator to enhance the search.

The police said no victims had been confirmed so far, but responders were continuing to search the rubble for anyone who may be trapped.

A significant development in the incident is the police disclosure that the collapsed building had previously been marked and sealed by the Department of Development Control, Abuja.

The police said preliminary investigations showed that the structure had been sealed before the collapse, while an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and its possible cause.

A police response team led by Edward Akaniyene, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Department of Operations, and Georgelyn Ufomadu, Area Commander, Metro, responded to the scene alongside officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Federal Fire Service (FFS), Security Service Department, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), and other relevant emergency agencies.

The agencies have commenced coordinated search and rescue operations, with authorities yet to establish the full extent of damage or confirm whether anyone remains trapped beneath the rubble.

FEMD said details concerning the number of persons affected and the cause of the collapse were still emerging.

Both agencies urged members of the public to remain calm and stay away from the affected area to give emergency responders and security personnel unrestricted access to carry out rescue operations.

The police also urged residents to remain security-conscious and promptly report suspicious activities or emergencies through their emergency lines.

Further details on casualties, the extent of damage and the circumstances surrounding the collapse are expected as search and rescue operations and investigations continue.

First River Niger Bridge repairs commence with hectic movements of commuters, vehicles

Repairs on the First Niger Bridge began on Monday, with motorists and other road users lamenting the heavy traffic on the diverted Onitsha-Owerri route in Anambra State, via the Second Niger Bridge to Asaba, Delta State.

Recall that Federal Government had last week ordered temporary closure of the 1st Niger Bridge for traffic, to enable emergency maintenance work carried out on the age long bridge for two weeks started from September 7, 2026.

The entry point from Onitsha, Anambra State to exit point in Asaba, Delta State part of the bridge was made impossible with the heavy duty construction vehicles and caterpillars for vehicular and human movements.

Reacting, some residents of Asaba working in Onitsha and other parts of Anambra State and residents of Onitsha working or do business in Asaba, have recounted their ordeals in the situation as the bridge was closed for traffic as early as 5:30 am on Monday morning.

However, some of the commuters in both Asaba and Onitsha welcomed the exercise, but regretted their experience moving into Onitsha and going out of Onitsha to Asaba and beyond.

Their regrets according to them follows the pitiable condition of Owerri Road to Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra State, which had been neglected by both the Federal and Anambra State Government for years.

Resident of Onitsha and its environs particularly Obosi, Oba, Nkpor and Oraifite have for over two years been complaining about the impassable condition of the Owerri Road, particularly from Upper Iweka to Metallurgical Training Institute (MTI), Obosi and Electrical Market Obosi, seen as death trap.

One of the Onitsha residents plying the Owerri Road, Okechukwu Ojukwu, said, ‘We have being calling on the Anambra State Government attention on the Onitsha- Owerri Road, but have.

‘We hope that the concerned authorities should also dismantle the Police and Navy check points that has been contributing to commuters suffering on Owerri road now it is the only road apart from Obosi road that people can use to come into Onitsha.’

Meanwhile, Nnanna Oji Ama, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, in collaboration with sister security agencies, has commenced a coordinated security and traffic management operation following the temporary closure of the First Niger Bridge to vehicular traffic for scheduled maintenance works.

Ama, personally led heads of sister security agencies and other strategic security commanders on an on-the-spot assessment of the bridge, adjoining areas and identified diversionary routes.

The assessment was aimed at identifying potential security, traffic and public-safety challenges arising from the closure and putting in place proactive measures to mitigate them.

Consequently, the Command has deployed a Police-led Joint Security Team to strategic locations around the bridge, diversionary routes and other critical points to maintain security, support effective traffic management and prevent criminal elements from exploiting the situation.

The deployment is specifically targeted at ensuring safe, orderly and unhindered movement of motorists, commuters and pedestrians, while preventing traffic obstruction, congestion, harassment, opportunistic criminality and other security breaches.

HAITI-POLITICS-Over half a million voters registered so far to cast ballots in elections

The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), says just over half a million voters have been registered across the country as preparations continue for the elections to be held in December this year.

The first round of long-awaited presidential and legislative elections, alongside a constitutional referendum are scheduled for December 13, marking the first time Haitians will be casting ballots since 2016 when President Jovenel Moise was elected. Moise was later assassinated on July 7,2021.

The preliminary results are expected to be published December 19, with final results for the first round scheduled for January 9, 2027. A second round of presidential and legislative elections, along with local elections, is scheduled for February 21, 2027 with final results for the second round of presidential and legislative elections scheduled for March 7, with final local election results expected March 12.

The CEP said that as of September 6, this year, 506,953 persons had been registered since the registration process began on July 20, 2026. The figure represents 12.6 per cent of the CEP’s target of registering four million voters by the October 13, deadline.

The CEP said that 2,761 operators are currently active in the field and that the logistical infrastructure consists of 1,418 registration centers, of which 1,271 are directly operational.

Registration progress has fluctuated considerably from week to week. After a very slow start at the end of July with only a few hundred applications per day, a first increase appeared at the beginning of August, reaching around 15,000 to 20,000 applications per day.

The influx peaked during the second half of August, registering a maximum of 24,775 applications on August 17, followed by a second surge to 23,783 applications on August 25. But the pace has gradually slowed at the start of this month falling below 3,000 applications per day by September 6.

There are 257,447 registered men compared to 248,769 registered women. The authorities say that the most represented group is the 39-48 age group with 114,177 registered voters, closely followed by the 29-38 age group with 110,028 registered voters.

Young people aged 18-28 represent 79,811 registered voters, while participation gradually decreases among older age groups, from 90,932 for the 49-58 age group to 44,034 for those 69 and over.

Official figures also show that as of September 3rd, 2026, only 21 out of 105 approved political organizations have met the requirement of 30,000 endorsements. The final deadline for verification and validation of these lists is October 14, 2026.

But wth less than four months before the first ballot is cast, Jerry Tardieu, the former deputy for Pétion-Ville, has in an open letter addressed to CEP president, Jacques Desrosiers, is seeking details on the modalities planned to allow Haitians living abroad to participate in the next elections.

Tardieu has included in his list of questions, which categories of Haitians living abroad will be able to vote, what will be the conditions and procedures for registration on the electoral lists, what identification documents will be required and in which countries or cities the polling stations will be installed.