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Stakeholders from government, financial services, technology and business sectors are expected to examine the infrastructure required to support Nigeria’s evolving digital economy at a forum in Owerri, Imo State, on Thursday.

The forum, organised as part of the sixth edition of Interswitch’s TechConnect industry engagement series, will hold at Protea Hotel, Owerri, with the theme, ‘Built for What’s Next: Designing Adaptive Financial Infrastructure for a Dynamic Market.’

The discussions will focus on how organisations can develop scalable, secure and interconnected systems capable of responding to changing technology, customer expectations and business models.

The keynote address will be delivered by the Executive Chairman of the Imo State Internal Revenue Service, Mr Justice R. Okoye, FCA, ACTI.

Okoye is expected to examine the role of adaptive financial infrastructure in strengthening institutions, improving service delivery and supporting broader economic participation.

Speaking ahead of the event, Vice President, Business Innovation and Growth, Interswitch, Tyoyila Aga, said organisations must design infrastructure with the capacity to adapt to changing market conditions.

Aga said, ‘Markets, customer expectations and business needs will continue to evolve, so the systems that support them must be scalable, interoperable, secure and resilient enough to evolve with them.’

She said the focus should not be limited to adopting new technology but also on developing connected infrastructure capable of supporting new services, channels and opportunities as they emerge.

A key feature of the Owerri edition will be a panel discussion titled ‘Driving Digital Transformation Through Public-Private Partnerships.’

The panel will feature the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zikora Microfinance Bank Limited, Dr Kalu Nnachi; Managing Director, Premise2Cloud ICT Solutions Limited, Celestine Obiosa Uzor; Technology and Process Automation representative of the Abia State Internal Revenue Service, Emmanuel Alozie; and Aga of Interswitch.

The session will be moderated by Faith Ukpai, Lead, Partner and Client Management (Sales and Accounts), Interswitch.

The discussion will focus on how government, financial institutions, technology providers and businesses can collaborate on digital solutions, with attention to interoperability, cybersecurity, data protection, resilience and the capacity of digital systems to respond to changing business and customer needs.

The programme will also feature a fireside chat titled ‘Building a Digital Economy: The Role of Government, Industry and Talent in Shaping the Future.’

The session will have the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Anambra State Government, Nomso Ebonwu, and Chief Sales Officer, Interswitch, Robinta Aluyi, as speakers, while Suliat Aliyu, Head, Partnership, Interswitch, will moderate.

The discussion will examine the roles of government, industry and talent in the development of a more connected digital economy.

The forum will also feature product showcases and networking sessions, providing participants with opportunities to examine payment and digital commerce solutions and their applications across businesses, financial institutions and public-sector organisations.

The Owerri engagement is the first stop in the four-city TechConnect 6.0 series, which will continue in Abuja on October 8, Ibadan on October 22 and Lagos on October 27, 2026.

The series is expected to provide stakeholders across sectors with opportunities to exchange ideas and practical experiences on the infrastructure, innovation and partnerships required to support the continued development of digital finance.

While seasoned corporate titans dominate Africa’s ultra-wealthy elite, several business moguls have built multi-billion-dollar fortunes across energy, manufacturing, technology, and real estate well before the continent’s average billionaire retirement age.

Based on Forbes’ 2026 Africa Billionaires ranking, this list evaluates the continent’s wealthiest figures by age rather than total net worth, using overall wealth rank as a tie-breaker.

In this article Tribune online highlights 10 youngest billionaires in Africa.

Mohammed Dewji (Tanzania) – Age: 51 | Net Worth: $2.1bn

Tanzanian industrialist Mohammed Dewji remains the youngest billionaire in Africa. As CEO of MeTL (Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited), a conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s, Dewji oversees extensive operations across textile manufacturing, flour milling, edible oils, and beverages in 10 African countries. Dewji, the sole billionaire from Tanzania, is also a signatory of the Giving Pledge.

Femi Otedola (Nigeria) – Age: 63 | Net Worth: $1.3bn

Nigerian investor Femi Otedola ranks as Africa’s second-youngest billionaire. After making his mark in petroleum marketing through Forte Oil, Otedola pivoted into the power sector.

In 2025, he divested a majority stake in Geregu Power while retaining a 5% interest. His investment footprint also covers major equity holdings in FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank.

Patrice Motsepe (South Africa) – Age: 64 | Net Worth: $4.3bn

South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe made history in 2008 as the first Black African on the Forbes billionaires list. The founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals holds expansive stakes across financial services through Sanlam and African Rainbow Capital.

Outside boardroom operations, Motsepe owns Mamelodi Sundowns FC and has served as President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2021.

Nassef Sawiris (Egypt) – Age: 65 | Net Worth: $9.6bn

Leading a five-way age tie at 65, Egyptian tycoon Nassef Sawiris is the wealthiest of his age group. Sawiris oversees OCI NV, a global leader in nitrogen fertiliser production, and maintains substantial stakes in Adidas and Orascom Construction.

His sports portfolio includes co-ownership of Premier League outfit Aston Villa and a stake in Madison Square Garden Sports (owners of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers).

Strive Masiyiwa (Zimbabwe) – Age: 65 | Net Worth: $2.1bn

Telecom pioneer Strive Masiyiwa built Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in 1998, overcoming fierce regulatory hurdles to launch the carrier. Masiyiwa holds roughly 38% of the publicly traded telecom firm and about 33% of fintech giant EcoCash. His portfolio extends across fibre operator Liquid Intelligent Technologies and clean energy distribution. He has also served on the board of Netflix since late 2020.

Aziz Akhannouch (Morocco) – Age: 65 | Net Worth: $1.6bn

Moroccan Prime Minister and businessman Aziz Akhannouch controls Akwa Group, a legacy multi-industry conglomerate founded in 1932.

Through publicly traded subsidiaries Afriquia Gaz and Maghreb Oxygene, Akwa Group commands major market shares in petroleum, industrial gas, and chemicals across North Africa.

Yasseen Mansour (Egypt) – Age: 65 | Net Worth: $1.4bn

Egyptian developer Yasseen Mansour holds major equity in the family-run Mansour Group, the distributor of General Motors and Caterpillar machinery across several territories.

Mansour also serves as the chairman of Palm Hills Developments, one of Egypt’s premier real estate development firms.

Abdulsamad Rabiu (Nigeria) – Age: 66 | Net Worth: $11.2bn

Industrialist Abdulsamad Rabiu is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, one of West Africa’s largest infrastructure and manufacturing conglomerates. Rabiu controls 98.2% of BUA Cement and 95% of BUA Foods, having expanded the business from an import outfit founded in 1988 into a dominant cement, sugar, and food processing empire.

Aliko Dangote (Nigeria) – Age: 69 | Net Worth: $28.5bn

Africa’s wealthiest individual, Aliko Dangote, founded Dangote Cement, the continent’s top producer with an annual output capacity of 48.6 million metric tonnes across 10 nations.

Beyond cement, his expansive industrial footprint includes a major granulated fertiliser facility launched in 2022 and the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which commenced full refining operations in 2024.

Samih Sawiris (Egypt) – Age: 69 | Net Worth: $1.4bn

Rounding out the top 10 is Egyptian real estate magnate Samih Sawiris. He established Orascom Development Holding, which designs, develops, and operates comprehensive resort towns across Egypt, Switzerland, and Montenegro.

Alongside his billionaire brothers Nassef and Naguib, he retains significant equity in Orascom Construction.

The Federal Government has said Nigeria’s global standing depends largely on effective grassroots governance and development, stressing that the country’s domestic policies have direct implications for its foreign policy and international image.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, stated this in Abuja at the 2026 maiden National Conference of the 774 Local Government Chairmen and Chairmen of Traditional Rulers’ Councils, held at the State House Banquet Hall.

The conference, convened by the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, was themed, ‘Cascading President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to the Grassroots.’

Enikanolaiye, who delivered a goodwill message at the conference, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was interested in developments at the local level because of their implications for Nigeria’s international relations.

‘For us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we believe that every aspect of our government policy at home has implications for foreign policy and Nigeria’s international relations.

‘Which is why we are interested in everything that goes on domestically because foreign policy is also a projection of domestic policy. And in this context, grassroots mobilisation and development is critical to what we do abroad,’ he said.

The minister said inclusive governance must be bottom-up rather than top-down, describing traditional rulers as a critical component of Nigeria’s governance architecture.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for approving the conference and for anchoring the roles of local governments and traditional rulers in the ongoing constitutional amendment process.

Enikanolaiye said the success of the Renewed Hope Agenda would ultimately be determined at the grassroots, linking local government development to the administration’s four-D foreign policy doctrine of demography, development, democracy and diaspora.

On demography, he described Nigeria’s youth population across the 774 local government areas as a major global asset, saying empowering local governments would help translate the country’s population into economic strength.

He said the administration’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy could not be achieved without productive local governments, citing agriculture, mineral resources and major infrastructure projects as areas with the potential to attract foreign direct investment.

On democracy, Enikanolaiye said empowering local governments and traditional rulers would demonstrate Nigeria’s commitment to bottom-up governance.

He added that when communities were secure and economically productive, members of the Nigerian diaspora would be more encouraged to invest in the country and promote its image abroad.

The minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would drive the foreign policy component of grassroots development through investment matchmaking via Nigeria’s 110 diplomatic missions, partnerships with friends of Nigeria, and the use of traditional rulers’ community intelligence to support national security.

Also speaking, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Olumuyiwa Enitan Abel, represented by Dr Vitalis Obi, said local governments were closest to the people and central to effective service delivery.

He also described traditional rulers as important partners in peacebuilding and reaffirmed the commitment of the civil service to accountability and measurable results.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Dr Onwusoro Maduka Ihemelandu, said the government had faced challenges obtaining timely and verifiable data on interventions at the local government level.

He said the ministry had therefore developed an E-Tracking Framework to monitor projects based on their locations, value, timelines and verification status.

Commuters on the ever-busy Benin-Sapele Highway can now heave a sigh of relief as the management of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Limited has carried out further repair works on failed sections of the expressway.

The Benin-Sapele highway, it would be recalled, has become a nightmare in recent times for commuters, especially at the Iyanomo, Ekosa, Obayantor Ologbo, and Koko junction in Delta, which had almost totally collapsed, thus necessitating the intervention of the petrochemical company.

Commuters and other users of the highways spend days on the bad spots along the corridor due to the deplorable state of the highway, which links the rest of the country to the core Niger Delta States from Edo to Bayelsa and Rivers.

The palliative works by the management of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Limited are to prevent trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles plying the highway from falling on the road.

The palliative work was done at various sections of the road, like Iyanomo, Ekosa, Obayantor Ologbo and Koko junction in Delta State.

The Head of Technical Operations of the refinery, Segun Okeini, said the intervention was to prevent the occurrence of the fire incident that happened five years ago, when a truck carrying PMS at one of the bad spots in Ologbo, with the ensuing conflagration killing over 20 people, with many others injured.

Okeini, who noted that the failed sections were almost like they were before the incident, added that the company decided to act promptly to repair the spot after the accident.

The failed portions, he disclosed, had been affecting the firm’s operations as tankers spent days on the highway before gaining access to the refinery to load products.

‘Our refinery is just about two kilometers ahead. And this area happens to be part of the area of coverage of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

‘They approached us to help them fix the failed section because most of their people cannot go out of the area. Our Chairman was around during that period, and he saw the level of damage to the road, and even on that same day, we have like five trucks that fell along the road. He authorised that we should just undertake this.’ He stated.

Okeini disclosed that while the failed portions had no direct impact on the refinery’s production, he added that since the blocked road could prevent trucks coming for loading product at the refinery, the company decided to carry out the palliative repairs for the benefit of all the users of the highway.

On his part, the Managing Director of SODEOSA Global Resources, Solomon Uyiekpen, said commuters experienced suffering on the road before the intervention.

Uyiekpen said he collaborated with the Edo Refinery to fix the road as a CSR to the communities around the area.

A member of the Obayantor community, Kennedy Nwazekwu, who expressed joy at the repair works, said the repair work would stop incessant accidents on the road.

Nwazekwu recalled with sadness that over 20 people had died at the bad spot when their vehicles fell into the ditch at different times.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a Nigerian-Mexican drug cartel operating a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Eziama community, Obeagu, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Two kingpins, 45-year-old Chukwu Obumneme Christopher, alias Brown, and 60-year-old Chukwu Georginus Monday, alias George, were arrested in connection with the operation of the meth lab in partnership with a notorious Mexican drug cartel member, Rodriguez Villanueva, based in Mexico City, Mexico, after several months of intelligence gathering and surveillance of the syndicate.

The spokesman for the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Thursday that the two kingpins were arraigned before Justice Mabel Taiye Segun-Bello of the Federal High Court, Enugu Judicial Division, on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, the organisation, management and financing of a drug trafficking organisation, and unlawful possession of precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production, contrary to the NDLEA Act.

After they pleaded to the charges, Justice Segun-Bello adjourned their trial until October 21, 2026, following an application by the agency for an accelerated hearing.

Also named in the charge and currently at large are Uchenna, alias Uche; Celestine Ikemefuna Iwuchukwu; and Rodriguez Villanueva, who is a notorious member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Investigations by a Special Operations Unit (SOU) of the NDLEA revealed a sophisticated, transnational operation by the Nigerian-Mexican cartel. Surveillance activities by the NDLEA between December 1 and 4, 2025, tracked Brown’s movements between Lagos, Enugu and Anambra states, ultimately leading operatives to a compound in Obeagu, where a clandestine laboratory capable of producing methamphetamine in commercial quantities was uncovered.

The lab, fitted with improvised reactors and distillation apparatus, mirrored similar facilities recently dismantled in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.

A search of the premises led to the recovery of vast quantities of precursor chemicals, including 690 litres of methylamine, 1,000 litres of isopropyl alcohol, 300 litres of hydrochloric acid, 290 litres each of toluene and acetone, 400 litres of liquid sodium hydroxide, 125 kilograms of N-phenylacetamide, 414 kilograms of lead acetate, and 769.6 kilograms of tartaric acid, among other controlled substances. The haul was consistent with a high-potency, P2P-based methamphetamine manufacturing operation.

A related search of George’s family residence yielded eight large fuel tanks, four commercial gas burners, four dehydrators, and 11 kilograms of ephedrine, further underscoring the scale of the cartel’s operations.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), reaffirmed the agency’s unwavering resolve to track down every fleeing suspect connected to the cartel and ensure that they all face the full weight of the law.

He commended all NDLEA officers involved in the operation for their professionalism and doggedness in cracking yet another international drug syndicate.

Marwa described the Enugu lab bust as further proof that Nigeria will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels, warning that the agency’s intelligence-driven operations and international partnerships would continue to close every loophole exploited by drug barons, whether local or foreign.

He reiterated his charge to all NDLEA personnel to sustain the momentum of relentless enforcement until the nation is rid of the scourge of illicit drug production and trafficking.

The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, Olooye Adegboyega Adegoke, has promised to construct a rail line from Moniya to Saki to aid easy transportation of farm produce from Oke-Ogun to Ibadan and other areas of the South-West geopolitical zone.

Adegoke stated this on Wednesday while featuring on the ‘Good Morning Show’ programme on Arise News Television in Lagos.

In a statement issued by the Adegoke Campaign Media Team on Thursday, he said the rail line, to be constructed from Moniya in Ibadan to Saki, would ease the transportation of farm produce to markets across the region.

The ADC candidate explained that the proposed project, which is a Standard Single Gauge Rail Line of about 100 kilometres, would cost the state US$3 million per kilometre.

The statement quoted Adegoke as saying, ‘I am going to build a Standard Single Gauge Rail Line at circa US$3M per Kilometer for economic viability and feasibility we don’t need a Standard Double Gauge Rail Line which cost circa US$6M to US$6.9M per Kilometer.

‘It will be in three phases of Moniya to Iseyin; Iseyin to Okeho; and Okeho to Saki. Projects like these attract development partners and agencies. So, the entire burden will not be on the Oyo State government alone. Similar thing is being done with the ongoing Muritala Mohammed International Airport reconstruction in Lagos’.

He said the rail line project was becoming necessary and would be a top priority for his government because Oke-Ogun was the food basket of Oyo State, noting that the easy transportation of farm produce from the area to the market would be a win-win situation for farmers and the urban populace in Ibadan and other states, who were the major consumers.

Adegoke, a graduate of Agricultural Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said he would do everything possible to assist farmers in the state when he assumed power in 2027.

Speaking on his economic blueprint, the ADC governorship candidate stated that it was embedded in his political slogan, ‘SOLUTIONS 2027’, which comprised security of lives and property; organic development of agriculture; let there be jobs; urban renewal of major cities; and turning around of the health and education sectors.

Others are industrial revolution and infrastructure development; on-the-job training for teachers and special schemes/status for them; and the deployment of new technologies in every area of government business, in addition to socio-economic development.

Speaking on his candidature, Adegoke maintained that he was the best among the candidates of the three popular parties, without any blemishes, noting that the APM candidate was an extension of the current government, going by their slogan of Omituntun 3.0, while the issue of godfatherism was hanging on the neck of the APC candidate.

According to him, ‘out of the three popular candidates of the three major parties the APM, APC and ADC, I’m the beautiful bride, not tainted with no God Father but God Almighty is my father’.

MUSIC legend, Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, famously known as King Sunny Ade, clocked 80 on Tuesday, September 22. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Adegeye, also known by the moniker KSA, is one of the Nigerian musicians who popularised the Yoruba Juju music and hoisted it onto the global stage. His international success has earned him a place in history as one of the most influential musicians of all time.

Beginning with the formation of his band in 1967, which he named the African Beats, KSA has traversed several record labels, including Island Records in 1982, before owning his own independent label. His albums, Juju Music, (1982) and Synchro System (1983) put him on the lips of the world, with the 1983 hit earning him a Grammy nomination. He achieved the same feat in 1998, with a Grammy nomination for his album, Odu. Sunny Ade’s move to Island Records came after he was head-hunted by the British label owner, Chris Blackwell. This followed the death of Bob Marley, who was Blackwell’s major musical export from Jamaica. Upon Marley’s death, the label turned towards Africa. Sunny was introduced to Blackwell by Martin Meissonnier, and a deal was struck that led to the 1982 record. The album gave Sunny Ade so much global leverage that he was dubbed ‘the African Bob Marley’. Shortly after, however, he became estranged from Island Records. Even so, his brief stint on the label opened doors for many other African musicians like Mali’s Salif Keita and Senegal’s Youssou N’Dour.

Known globally as the King of World Beats and creator of the Golden Mercury sound, Sunny Ade is undoubtedly one of Black Africa’s greatest artistes. In his decades of musical engagements, he has traversed the world to promote his brand of music in a way that no other Juju musician has. Adegeye hails from Ondo town in Ondo State, though he was born in Osogbo, Osun State, to a church organist father and a trader mother, Maria Adegeye. Maria was a scion of the Akure royal dynasty, with the highly revered Oba Olofinlade Afunbiowo Adesida I, the legendary 41st Deji of Akure Kingdom and patriarch of the influential Adesida royal dynasty, being her relative. He began his musical career with the Federal Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band owned by the famous Yoruba comedian, Moses Olaiya, popularly known as Baba Sala. From there, Sunny Ade formed his own band which he named The Green Spots in 1967. For a very long time, his band was known as the African Beats, but he later switched to the Golden Mercury. This switch was attributed to musical direction and business strategy.

Critics say KSA’s stylistic form of Juju was born out of the style of Tunde Nightingale, a musician of the same genre in the 1970s. Over the decades, however, he has stamped his own art and musical form on the global stage in a transformative manner. He achieves the right blend of beats, stage presence, and a deft deployment of language and rhythm to inhabit a class of his own. Sunny Ade was one of many musicians of the 1970s who enthralled audiences and popularised the Juju genre of Yoruba music. With colleagues like Ebenezer Obey, Emperor Pick Peters, Dele Abiodun, Ahuja Bello and many others, Juju music was characterised by instruments like the Yoruba talking drum and the guitar, which were rooted in Yoruba tradition and custom. Their music was an admixture of age-old Yoruba oral poetry called ewi, with an infusion of dense proverbs and incantations called ogede or ofo. They were delivered in danceable and eclectic rhythms. What these musicians did was recalibrate the tradition of their forefathers and document it for posterity in evergreen songs.

Sunny Ade, however, sidestepped virtually all his colleagues. He fashioned his own brand of Juju music, infusing into it the pedal steel guitar, as well as several attempts at ‘funkifying’ his sound. More than this, he uniquely branded his music through the introduction of the tenor guitar, vibraphone, synthesisers and clarinet into his repertoire. These helped carve a unique blend for his music. As modern instruments entered Sunny Ade’s music, he did not forsake the traditional African elements that made him the darling of millions. Sadly, however, the Juju music establishment became depleted, leaving Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey as the sole exponents. Many critics pilloried the incessant rivalry, musical rhetoric and mutual rain of abuses in the Juju genre that gained infamous traction in the 1970s/80s. It was also alleged that, beyond these exchanges, the musicians attempted to spiritually neutralise one another, and that these attempts were responsible for the early downfall and deaths of many of them.

Significantly, Sunny Ade proceeded to do Nigerian music proud through collaborations with famous musicians around the world. He collaborated with Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango on Wakafrika, as well as with younger artistes at home like Wasiu Alabi Pasuma. It is also on record that in the 1980s Sunny Ade’s works were featured in Hollywood: his music appeared in Breathless, a 1983 film starring Richard Gere. In 1986, One More Saturday Night, a comedy, also featured his music. He then acted in a 1987 comedy by Robert Altman titled O.C. and Stiggs. Sunny Ade also featured in a couple of Nollywood movies in the early 2000s. In recognition of his imprints on the sands of time, King Sunny Ade has been honoured with diverse awards. He was inducted into the Hard Rock Cafe Hall of Fame in 2016, as well as the Headies Hall of Fame in February 2021. As part of his 80th birthday, a music fiesta in his honour was put together by fellow Juju great Evangelist Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi, popularly known as Ebenezer Obey. Obey led a galaxy of veteran musicians, including Fuji artistes Kollington Ayinla and Abass Akande Obesere, as well as other prominent musical personalities. KSA has brought succour to those who were down, uplifted many lives through his music, and become an exemplar. In the process, he has fought many musical battles and battles for recognition, ultimately becoming a model with his eclectic dancing steps.

We, however, want to use the occasion of KSA’s 80th birthday to deplore the gradual death of his genre, Juju, with another Yoruba genre, Fuji, seeming to take over the stage. There is a dearth of younger talents in Juju, in contrast to what is seen in Fuji, although Fuji itself has its own issues. This points to one indubitable fact: Juju needs reformation. This can start with mentoring a new crop of Juju artistes and extinguishing the infamous and unhealthy rivalry of the past that plagued the genre. KSA, Obey and a sprinkling of others of their generation who remain on the scene can take up this charge. Their songs contain elevated lyrics that diverge from the banality of today’s musicians. As music cannot be made just for music’s sake, and as music cannot serve just one generation, Juju content today must be recreated to carry the highly educative lyrical content of the Sunny Ade hue.

Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) in Ogun State, under the aegis of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria (SCIAN), have appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to ensure the full implementation of the Ogun State Disability Law before the expiration of his administration.

The bodies made the plea on Wednesday at a joint press briefing held at the NUJ Hall, Iwe Iroyin House, Abeokuta, describing the situation as a case of moving the law ‘from paper to action.’

Tribune Online recalled that the Ogun State Disability Law was assented to by former governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in 2017.

The groups lamented that almost nine years after its enactment, the law had yet to reach the stage of full operational implementation.

The National President of the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, Abdulwahab Matepo, said the delay had left persons with disabilities waiting for the legal framework to translate into functioning institutions, enforceable protections, accessible systems and practical opportunities.

Matepo explained that JONAPWD’s estimated data put the number of persons living with disabilities in Ogun State at 1,032,221, based on a 15 per cent benchmark applied to the National Population Commission’s 2025 population projection.

He stressed that behind the figures were people seeking access to education, healthcare, employment, transportation, infrastructure, economic opportunities and political participation without discrimination.

Similarly, the state chairman of JONAPWD, Ayo Awobona, said the groups had previously engaged with the Ogun State House of Assembly, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, traditional rulers and other stakeholders since 2025, including proposals for amendments to address identified gaps in the existing law.

Awobona also disclosed that a delegation of the disability community met with the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Oluwasina Olanrewaju Ogungbade, SAN, a few months ago, during which he assured them that he would work on the law and provide an update within two weeks.

The JONAPWD chairman acknowledged that the existing law might require amendments and urged the government to operationalise the law in accordance with due process while pursuing any necessary amendments simultaneously.

He further explained that the non-implementation of the law had practical consequences for PLWDs, including inaccessible public institutions, inadequate inclusive education and transportation, discrimination, harmful practices and limited participation in governance and decision-making.

JONAPWD and SCIAN emphasised that persons with disabilities were not seeking charity, but ‘rights, dignity, equality, accessibility, participation and inclusion,’ calling on Governor Abiodun to provide the necessary political direction to ensure that the process of implementing the law was concluded before the expiration of his tenure.

The groups also charged political parties and governorship candidates to make disability inclusion part of their policy agenda, while calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure accessible polling units, voting materials and appropriate assistance for persons with disabilities.

Legendary Nollywood actor, Pete Edochie, has paid glowing tribute to late colleague, Olu Jacobs, describing him as a peaceful and humorous personality.

NAN reports that Edochie, in an emotional video tribute to the late legend, also commiserated with his wife, Joke Silva, over the challenges she endured during his prolonged illness.

‘Olu, my brother, you fought like a man. You fought like the soldier I have always known you to be. Rest in peace, my brother.

‘Joke, I commiserate with you for what you had to endure over a period of six years,’ he said.

Pete Edochie described Olu Jacobs as a very humorous and peaceful colleague, recalling his distinctive personality and the impact he had on those around him.

He said although Jacobs’ death was painful, his life should also be celebrated.

‘While we must mourn that Olu has gone, we should also be glad and celebrate Olu’s life.

‘Of all our senior colleagues who have gone, Olu was the only person who got up to 80 and beyond.

‘The Good Book allows us three scores and 10, that is 70. Olu earned 14 years on top of that,’ he said.

Edochie, however, acknowledged that the final six years of Jacobs’ life had not been what they had expected.

‘Unfortunately, the past six years were not what we had projected or expected in any way.

‘Like I said a thousand times, if God says it is time, then it is time,’ he said.

The veteran actor expressed hope that one of Jacobs’ children would take up acting, saying this would help preserve the memory and legacy of the late actor.

‘My one prayer is that one of Olu’s children takes to acting, so that whenever we look at him, we remember what Olu meant to all of us,’ Edochie said.

He described Jacobs as the most senior among their colleagues, adding that the late actor treated everyone he interacted with accordingly.

Edochie also recalled words Jacobs had shared with his wife, urging Silva to hold on to them as she navigated life after his death.

‘Joke, I want you to remember Olu’s words. Your problems are firmly behind you,’ he said.

He ended the tribute with a reflection on the possibility of meeting Jacobs again after death.

‘Joke, take care. Olu, well, if it is true that people recognise one another after they have gone, then there is a possibility that we will meet again,’ Edochie said.

NAN reports that Jacobs died on Sept.16 at the age of 84, with his passing prompting tributes from colleagues, political leaders and other Nigerians who acknowledged his contributions to theatre, television and the Nigerian film industry.

Among other feats, he was a recipient of several awards, including the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).