Category: Auto Guid

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has hailed Benue State Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia for significant breakthroughs in the state’s industrial development.

The global literary icon spoke after an inspection of major projects of the Alia administration in Makurdi, the state capital.

During his visit, Prof. Soyinka toured flagship initiatives of the Alia administration, including the Food Basket Brewery and the Benval Fruit Factory, both central to the state’s expanding agro-industrial landscape.

Before the inspection, the literary icon held a closed-door meeting with the governor at the Presidential Wing of the Governor’s Lodge, with the Group Managing Director of the Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC), Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, and other top officials in attendance.

The delegation also visited an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp on the Gbajimba Road, where Soyinka sympathized with displaced families and reaffirmed his commitment to their welfare.

He said part of his mission was to assess the use of books he previously donated, assuring the IDPs that ‘all hope is not lost’.

The tour continued at the Food Basket Brewery on Gboko Road and the Benfruits Factory at the Industrial Layout in Makurdi.

Prof. Soyinka applauded Governor Alia’s infrastructural drive – especially ongoing road and underpass projects – expressing confidence that Benue State is ‘on the path to optimal growth and development’.

At the Benval Fruit Factory, both Soyinka and the governor were impressed by the facility’s expanding capacity.

Henry Boager, who conducted the tour, confirmed that the factory had completed its test runs and was fully ready for concentrate production.

Addressing reporters, Alia reiterated his directive for orchard farmers to prepare for a strong harvest season, stressing that the new factories require a steady supply of oranges.

The governor restated his policy that ‘by December, no oranges will leave Benue State,’ emphasizing that all produce should be processed locally.

Asemakaha announced that BIPC had mapped and collected data on about 5,600 orchard farmers through geo-fencing, ensuring a dependable supply chain for the fruit-processing factories.

Prof. Soyinka’s visit signalled a strong endorsement of the state’s industrialisation efforts, further boosting the profile of Benue State’s growing agro-industrial hub.

Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Dr Zacch Adedeji yesterday revealed that 95 per cent of Nigerians will pay no tax under the new tax regime.

He added that the new tax system would fairly affect the high-heeled in the country.

The FIRS chief spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State shortly after he received an award from the University of Ilorin Alumni Association.

He said the ‘focus will be on those at the top of the pyramid.’

He said from January next year, FIRS would have a name change.

Represented by Prof Abiola Sanni (SAN), the FIRS chairman said: ‘from January 2026 FIRS will have a name change. Is it going to be a new wine on old bottle? No. Looking at our revenue challenges that we face as a nation and our consistent ranking in terms of tax to GDP ratio, we must create new approaches to taxation.

‘I want to assure you that the tax system that is about to debut in January 2026 is a tax player-friendly one. It is one that is business-friendly. I daresay that there has never been a reform of taxation in this country that is this transformative and business-friendly.

‘Let me explain in case there are doubting Thomases among us, the tax system in the past used to focus on the people at the bottom. And what do I mean I that both it affected those at the informal sector and those in paid employment.

‘Under the new emerging tax system, 95 per cent of Nigerians will pay no tax. Whether you like it or not those whom God has blessed and those benefiting from the economy but have not been paying their own fair share of the tax burden will be now be made to do so.

‘Like I said they will be made to do so fairly. In some countries whereas the tax rate may be as high as 50 per cent, but in Nigeria after the deduction of all the deductibles from the ‘big boys and big girls the tax will only be 25 per cent of what they earn.

And we need this to develop infrastructure, provide education, revamp the system. Without a good tax system we are going nowhere as a country.

‘Finally you should be on the lookout for a new tax institute. We are changing the name to also signpost the fact that FIRS is not a federal institution now.’

France’s highest court yesterday upheld former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid, his latest legal setback after recently being jailed for nearly a month in another case.

Sarkozy, who served one term as president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted in 2021 and again in 2024 for illegal campaign financing related to the election.

Following an appeal, France’s Cour de Cassation yesterday confirmed the convictions, saying that illegal campaign financing had been established. It upheld Sarkozy’s one-year non-custodial sentence, half of which is suspended.

In a statement, Sarkozy’s lawyers said their client was considering bringing the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

The ruling comes after Sarkozy, 70, was sent to prison on October 21 after he was found guilty in a separate case for efforts by close aides to procure Libyan funds for his 2007 presidential bid. He was freed from jail earlier this month, pending appeal.

Sarkozy has denied accusations that his party, Les Republicains, then known as the UMP, in 2012 spent nearly double the 22.5 million euros ($26 million) allowed under electoral law on extravagant campaign rallies and then hired a friendly public relations firm to hide the cost.

He has said he was not involved in the logistics of his campaign or in how money was spent in the run-up to the election.

The 2021 ruling said Sarkozy was made aware of the overspending, that he did not act on it, and that it was not necessary for him to approve each individual expense to be responsible.

Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El Rufai thought he had put his successor under fire by alleging that Governor Uba Sani is paying ransom to bandits to keep the peace. The governor fired back through his aide, and asked the fellow who barked around as chief executive to prove his allegations.

He made the allegation recently on Channels Television where he often goes to weep in public. The commissioner for internal security and home affairs, Sule Shu’aibu was unsparing as he described the former governor’s contention as ‘reckless, baseless and deliberately misleading.’

Taking another swipe at El-Rufai, he said the APC defector was ‘weaponising a sensitive security issue for political grandstanding.’

Shu’aibu noted as Governor Sani had done several times, that the present chief executive has never authorised, negotiated, or paid any money to the hoodlums. ‘Not one naira. Not one kobo,’ the commissioner said.

Now, the shoe is on the other foot. Let him who charges, prove. He was even given a deadline: one week. This is an unfamiliar territory for El Rufai who has a knack for raising the stakes.

But he was not properly interrogated when he made that claim. A reporter ought to make a man answer for his own sins when he commits it in public. Was it not this same El Rufai who boasted that he was paying ransom, and that there was nothing wrong with it? So, why was he angry if, for the sake of argument, the present governor is paying ransom?

We must note that he paid ransom for nothing because he left the state in a state of violence like neighbouring Katsina State today. He did not understand his own contradiction when he spoke. Places like Birnin Gwari were no-go areas for regular folks. There were no markets or businesses there throughout his tenure as governor. The bandits were in charge of their areas just as he was in charge of the state house in Kaduna.

The governor has said he is not just using carrots but also sticks. Carrots in terms of providing platforms for engaging the idle like the 2.5 million citizens who now have bank accounts. To be idle is to do havoc.

In Southern Kaduna, the nation heard news as though a routine about kidnappings, house and village burnings, and killings. He declared states of emergency without security and the emergencies were invitation to fatal treats.

If he is alleging with evidence, let the world see it. Any man who wants to play hardball must have hard evidence. If he does not provide evidence, he would be seen as mere rabble rouser and bellyaching over the successes of his successor. It would be regarded then, not just as bellyaching, but also an act of envy. It is an open advertisement of his failure in eight years.

Not long ago, he was roundly defeated in local elections in which the governor said elections are not won on social media posts. He and his son are adept at superficial posts and meretricious claims, just as the one he is being challenged to provide proof.

Even the national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu has said no bandit was paid. If El Rufai paid ransom and it did not work, why would he expect that ransoms would be responsible for peace in Kaduna? We have seen that ransoms only bring respites and not enduring peace. Ransoms don’t pay forward. The people return for more ransoms. And to do that, they foment violence. We have not seen such rhythm of violence and peace in the state. Over to you, Malam. Where is your proof? Time is ticking.

Sir: I write with a broken heart. A heart so bruised it feels shattered. For weeks now, it has been one tragedy after another. One kidnapping case replaced by the next. Little girls taken from their schools. Families plunged into fear. We have reached a point where people whisper painful prayers like ‘may Nigeria never happen to me’, because we have watched the nation turn against its own.

Only last week, schoolgirls in Kebbi were abducted. And even though news has just broken that they have been freed, the joy of their return cannot erase the trauma of their ordeal or the deeper truth it exposes about our country. In that same week, more than 300 students were taken from a Catholic school. These were girls who simply wanted to learn, to grow, to dream, and to build a life. Their only ‘fault’ was the desire to be educated.

There is no way to describe the agony of sending your child to school and then seeing on the news that she has been taken by ruthless, faceless men. You do not know whether she has eaten, whether she is being harmed, what fears she is battling, what pain she is enduring. Is it a crime to be a girl-child in this country? Why must she carry so much suffering on her small shoulders?

The rate of insecurity in Nigeria today is beyond alarming. Those who lead us, those who hold authority, are meant to use every tool within their reach to protect citizens. Yet what do we see? Is ordering schools to vacate the answer?

Sending students home is not a solution. It strips these girls of their right to education. And then what happens when they resume? Will the cycle of fear, evacuation and abduction continue? What truly is the way forward?

Our leaders must seek real, practical solutions to these recurring horrors. They must rise to their duties and be held accountable. Our girls are suffering. They are far too young to bear this kind of trauma. No girl, no child, no human being deserves this. No parent deserves the torment of knowing that their daughter is in the hands of men who may do only God knows what to her.

We thank God for the safe return of the abducted Kebbi schoolgirls, but we refuse to let that relief distract us from the painful truth that no child should ever have been taken in the first place.

A real estate firm, Akmodel Homes and Properties, said it has expanded its foothold to the United Kingdom (UK), Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

The company which is celebrating its fifth anniversary of resilience, innovation and commitment to excellWnce in the Nigerian real estate sector already has presence in Lagos, Awka, Uyo, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ilorin, and Enugu.

Its CEO, Dr. Abdulhakeem Odegade, said in the few years of the company’s existence, it has expanded its portfolio with strategic projects, modern estates, empowered realtors, and strengthened its reputation as a brand with vision.

According to him, the company’s growth story is a testament to consistency, dedication and the belief that Nigeria’s real estate industry can thrive when excellence is placed at the center of service, he added.

He expressed gratitude to their loyal clients, partners, realtors, staff and supporters whose trust and commitment have fueled its journey.

Odegade said the company remained committed to raising industry standards, creating more opportunities, building sustainable communities and shaping the future of real estate in Nigeria.

From a humble beginnings, Akmodel Homes and Properties has grown into a trusted and influential brand, known for delivering quality housing solutions, fostering meaningful partnerships, and contributing significantly to economic development. Over the past years, the company has maintained its focus on integrity, professionalism, customer satisfaction and community impact values that continue to guide its operations.

Sir: The passport reforms under the leadership of Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo may appear, on the surface, like a travel convenience upgrade. But beneath that surface lies something far more powerful: restored trust in the Nigerian state. Entrepreneurs have long lived in fear of government processes because those processes were unpredictable. You could plan around slow. You could never plan around confusion. Weeks of waiting, duplicated biometrics, extra payments, middlemen, missing files – small business owners suffered all of it. Every inefficiency translated to lost deals, altered timelines, and additional costs.

Digital passport processing did more than clean up a service. It reintroduced predictability, a currency more valuable than oil when building an economy. Investors, both local and foreign, take cues from how a government manages the simplest things. If a passport system can work seamlessly, stakeholders begin to believe that bigger systems can work too. This is why the reforms matter: they quietly restore confidence in the promise of Nigeria as a functional environment.

Efficient governance directly reduces the cost of doing business. Entrepreneurs understand this better than anyone. A document stuck on someone’s table can delay a client contract. A manual process can introduce corruption and inflate operational costs. A broken verification system can stall travel plans for an important business meeting. What looks like a ‘government problem’ is always, eventually, a business problem.

This is why digital processes in immigration, electronic correspondence, identity management reforms, and stricter accountability within agencies translate into real economic impact. They eliminate friction. They save time. They reduce stress. They help entrepreneurs redirect their energy from wrestling with institutions to building the businesses that create jobs.

What makes the reform approach stand out is its simplicity. It does not rely on noise, ceremony, or the usual theatrics of public office. It focuses on results. It focuses on systems. It focuses on function. And this is exactly what entrepreneurs need: a government that stops being a hurdle and starts behaving like an enabler.

The truth is that Nigeria’s biggest growth hack is not another grant programme or motivational initiative. It is competent public administration. It is a government that understands that a thriving private sector needs stable systems the way a plant needs light. When reforms create clarity, entrepreneurs gain scale. When processes become predictable, business risks shrink. When accountability increases, investor trust rises. These are not abstract benefits; they are the conditions under which new industries are born.

The average entrepreneur may never directly interact with the Ministry of Interior, but they will feel its impact in countless ways: faster travel, smoother documentation, less paperwork, better compliance systems, reduced operational bottlenecks, and a governance environment that supports rather than stifles ambition. Public service efficiency has always been the hidden foundation of a strong private sector. For too long, that foundation has been weak. What we are seeing now is a rebuilding effort that matters more than most people realise.

Nigeria’s real economic engine has never been crude oil. It has always been people – the small businesses, the freelancers, the founders, the creators, the innovators, the hustlers who convert scarcity into new enterprise. When governance works well, these people lift at once. When governance improves, entrepreneurship expands. When systems are clean, the economy becomes easier to navigate and easier to trust.

These reforms signal a new kind of social contract: a government that delivers and a citizenry that builds. If this model spreads across ministries, Nigeria will not need endless economic summits to debate growth. Growth will happen naturally because the environment will finally support it. Entrepreneurship will strengthen because the systems around it stop sabotaging it.

At its core, entrepreneurship is a relay race. Government hands the baton. Entrepreneurs run with it. Investors cheer from the sidelines. Society gets the win. For decades, Nigeria dropped the baton before the race even began. But the reforms we are seeing now suggest that perhaps, for the first time in a long time, the baton is being handed correctly.

And when government works, entrepreneurs win – every single time.

The Lagos State Government, through the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Students’ Union Affairs – Tertiary Education, has marked this year’s International Students’ Day with a charge for students to embrace entrepreneurship for them to be relevant in today’s world.

With the theme: ‘Empowering students as agents of innovation and change,’ the event had in attendance students and student leaders from tertiary institutions from across the state.

Speaking on the occasion, the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Students’ Union Affairs, Hon. Kappo Olawale Samuel, said International Students’ Day was historic and that it marked the struggle of students for better welfare.

‘This is a day celebrated globally to recognise students and the need to prepare them for the future.

We know that the society is changing rapidly and there is need for our youths to be ready for what would make them be able to compete globally. We brought Prof. Olufemi Obayori to deliver a lecture on entrepreneurship.

‘For the participants to take maximum advantage of the occasion, we brought some aides of the governor such as the SSA on Wealth Creation, SSA on Technical Education and others to also let the students know how they can benefit from the various programmes of the Lagos State government. These programmes are to make our students future ready. Moreover, they don’t need to wait until they graduate before they begin to start out as entrepreneurs,’ he said.

Olawale commended students and their leaders from within the state for their enthusiasm to learn from the resource persons brought to the event.

The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Hon. Tolani Sule, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Adeniran Kasali, said the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is ready to make youths in the state fully prepared for the future and is pursuing a number of programmes and policies to make that happen.

The Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Scholarship Board, Hon. Adaranijo Rasheedat, said the Board would not relent efforts at supporting students to make learning easier for them.

The Head of the Student Support Department of the ministry, Mrs Ibidapo-Obe Olubunmi, said the future is not abstract, as it is being shaped, refined and defined by actions being taken today.

The Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, represented by the Dean of Students Affairs, Dr Abatan Fatai, urged the students to see the need to prepare for the future.

Obayori who spoke on social entrepreneurship, said it was different from neoliberal entrepreneurship that focuses on rapacious acquisition of wealth.

He added that social entrepreneurship is rooted on social responsibility, solidarity and collective well being and urged students to go for it.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-General Waidi Shaibu, has called for a curriculum overhaul of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) that reflects contemporary security challenges.

He said the curriculum should focus on night training, physical fitness, artificial intelligence, and other emerging warfare domains.

The COAS made the call when he received the NDA Commandant, Maj-Gen Oluyemi Olatoye, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.

According to him, these measures would ensure that young officers are ‘fully attuned to the realities of modern battlefields and equipped with the warrior ethos and battle-oriented leadership skills required to confront contemporary security challenges.’

General Shaibu also stressed the need to strengthen research centres, particularly the NDA Department of Military Science, as a strategic step towards boosting the National Defence Industry and enhancing indigenous capacity for military innovation and self-reliance.

He emphasized that a robust research framework would provide the intellectual backbone required for a modern, responsive and technologically advanced fighting force.

The COAS pledged his full support to the Commandant in achieving these objectives, reaffirming his commitment to ensure that the NDA produces officers who are ‘strategically sound, operationally competent and fully prepared’ to meet the evolving security demands of the nation.

The NDA Commandant assured that he would build on the legacies and structures established by his predecessors.

He solicited sustained support from the COAS to effectively realise the vision and mission of producing competent, disciplined and professional officers capable of safeguarding Nigeria’s security interests.

He thanked the Nigerian military leadership for the confidence reposed in him to lead the nation’s premier military training institution, describing the NDA as the ‘training factory’ for future officers of the Armed Forces.

The respective tenures of the late Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of both the National Coordinating Office (NAC) of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Olusegun Awolowo Jr., stood out as beacons of ultimate professionalism and patriotic duty, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s export architecture and development.

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), which made this known over the weekend, said the contributions of Awolowo Jr., a distinguished public servant and technocrat, strengthened the bridge between enterprise and national growth.

Awolowo Jr., who was a grandson of late foremost nationalist and statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, died at the age of 62, with NACCIMA President Jani Ibrahim expressing deep regret and sorrow at his demise.

The NACCIMA President, in a statement, stated that within the broader ecosystem of Nigeria’s private sector, policy institutions and development frameworks, his work echoed a legacy rooted in disciplined leadership and strategic foresight.

‘His voice, often calm, yet compelling, added depth to conversations that helped shaped our national economic outlook,’ he added.

According to Ibrahim, ‘NACCIMA extends heartfelt condolences to the entire Awolowo clan, his wife, children, grandchildren, staff of both NAC and NEPC and many other colleagues and compatriots who cherished his professionalism, wisdom and personal warmth.

‘His passage is a reminder of the beauty of stewardship and the enduring power of a fulfilled life lived purposefully.’