Category: Business Day

Nigeria’s content creative industry is fast becoming an economic driver as creatives develop content that combines business objectives with authentic audience engagement.

To strengthen this shift, Insight Redefini, in partnership with Woof Studios Africa, hosted YouTube PluggedIN 2026, a platform where brands and creators shared insights on exploring opportunities for more meaningful collaboration through brand-funded content on YouTube.

The event, with the theme ‘Beyond the Placement: Rethinking How Brands Work with Creators,’ examined how brands, agencies and creators can move beyond conventional advertising placements to develop content that combines business objectives with authentic audience engagement.

Speaking at the event, Babatunde Olaifa, Group CEO of Insight Redefini, said that the growth of the creator economy depends on meaningful collaboration among brands and creators.

Olaifa said that no single stakeholder could build the ecosystem alone, highlighting the importance of combining their respective strengths to transform creative ideas into valuable content.

Building on a 2025 pilot, this year’s edition expanded the conversation to more brands, with a focus on small-group discussions and one-to-one engagements designed to connect brands with creators and move promising ideas towards campaign briefs, partnerships and funded content.

Adetutu Laditan, founder and Creative Director of Woof Studios Africa, said the growing ambitions of Nigerian creators and the need to address the business and production complexities involved in turning creative ideas into content that can be funded, produced and distributed to wider audiences.

Discussions throughout the event centred on three priorities: involving creators earlier in the creative process, ensuring brand-funded content remains relevant and authentic to audiences, and translating conversations into tangible partnerships, content opportunities and measurable outcomes.

A key highlight was a brand panel moderated by Esosa Osagiede, Group Creative Director at Insight Redefini, which explored what brands look for when selecting creators for partnerships.

Panellists, including brand managers from established Nigerian brands, identified brand fit and genuine audience influence as critical considerations. They stressed that follower counts and views alone do not necessarily reflect a creator’s ability to connect with audiences or influence their perceptions and behaviour.

One of the panellists, Media and Consumer Experience Manager of Mondelez International, Bolaji Popoola, noted that a shared understanding of objectives, audiences and creative direction is essential to building effective partnerships.

Prominent Nigerian creators, including Kiekie, Taoma, Aproko Doctor and Ify’s Kitchen, also shared perspectives on collaborating with brands through content that reflects their creative identities while meeting commercial objectives.

Babatunde Shobanjo, Chief Operating Officer of Insight Redefini, described the initiative as a positive development for the media and marketing communications industry, pointing to the value of creating platforms where brands and creators can explore new ways of working together.

Their emphasis on collaboration reflects Insight Redefini’s integrated approach to marketing communications. Earlier in 2026, agencies within its ecosystem, working with global partners, won a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the Creator Collaboration category for Vaseline’s The Real Nigerian Prince campaign.

The event comes amid growing interest in digital video and creator-led content as platforms for brands to connect with audiences. YouTube previously reported that watch time in Nigeria grew by more than 50 per cent year on year in 2025, with the platform reaching more than 30 million adults in the country each month.

Details have emerged on how Kula youths died at the bottom of the sea close to the Atlantic Ocean in an encounter with a vessel belonging to the Ibeto group.

Cries rang out in the week that a speed boat carrying 15 Kula youths of Akuku-Toru LGA of Rivers State, a town next to the Ocean, was crushed by a vessel which the youths attempted to stop from sailing out. The vessel known as Anambra FSO was said to be laden with 200,000 barrels of crude oil. The youths had many reasons to block the vessel, but about 10 of them ended up dead.

BusinessDay has been digging into what really happened that fateful Tuesday afternoon in the sea.

Kula community delegation at the Government House in Port Harcourt

Youths and vigilante members guarding the river

The Rivers State government has however stepped into the raucous, vowing to deal ruthlessly with anyone found liable in the deaths.

Gov Sim Fubara said 10 persons were killed and vowed to get to the root of the circumstances.

Gov Fubara gave the assurance on Thursday, October 22, 2026, when the people of Kula Community staged a peaceful march to Government House, Port Harcourt, carrying some of the corpses.

The governor, who was represented by Sunny Ewule, his Chief of Staff, sympathised with the bereaved families and appealed to the people to remain calm and avoid taking the laws into their own hands.

He assured the people of Kula that all those allegedly involved in the act that led to the death of their kinsmen would face the full wrath of the law.

The monstrous vessel

According to the Governor, death is a serious matter, and the Rivers State Government would not rest until it got to the bottom of the matter. ‘We are not going to sit by and allow Rivers indigenes go through this type of unnecessary death.’

Earlier, Anabs Sara-Igbe, a high chief and leader of the Kula Community to the Government House, said they were there to formally complain about the unfortunate incident and seek the government’s intervention.

‘It is proper we inform him (Fubara) because we don’t want to take the laws into our hands. We have the capacity to react but we don’t want to react,’ he said.

Boats and vessel

What Kula community claimed:

The community had raised alarm on Thursday, saying rescue efforts were underway to recover bodies of seven persons drowned at the Robertkiri waterways in Kula following a mishap involving a tugboat and a speedboat carrying over 15 persons.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, 20th October 2026, when a tugboat escorted by military personnel attempted to pull out a 200,000-barrel capacity oil vessel operated by the Ibeto Group after two years of operating in the area.

The victims include Davies Opiri (the Secretary of the Kula CDC) and two members of a local security outfit known as Amama Soldiers whose identity were yet to be known.

Others were named as David Sukubo, Endwell Ameme, Aboy Umeonu and Nye Oriye. They were said to be protesting members of Kula satellite communities and fishing settlements who had vowed to prevent the oil vessel from sailing out of their coastal waters until matters with the company were resolved.

They alleged that the Ibeto Group polluted their waterways, fishing ports and creeks, refused to pay local vendors, and allegedly failed to pay royalties due to the host communities in the course of its operations in the area.

The community said eight persons were rescued alive from the boat mishap. The search and rescue team, which included the DPO of Abonnema Police Division; Sukubu Sara-Igbe Sukubo, the President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, chiefs and other indigenes of Kula, searched through creeks and water bodies where the incident occurred, they added.

The statement said they, however, were unable to find the bodies of any of the victims 24 hours after the incident.

One of the survivors, Gibert Pokubo, blamed military personnel attached to the tugboat for the incident.

He alleged that the military acted on the instruction of the Ibeto Group to forcefully pull out the oil vessel from the area and crush any obstable on their way.

One of the leaders of the search and rescue team, Jonah Joshua, expressed hope of recovering the bodies of all the victims.

He said the Ibeto Group and personnel of the Sector 3 Command Okrika of the Nigeria Army involved should be held responsible for what he described as avoidable deaths of the innocent persons.

A relative of one of the victims, Stephen Willbraide, said the wife, children and other family members of the deceased are deeply saddened and devastated by the incident.

He demanded a thorough investigation and justice in the matter.

The search and rescue operation continue today to recover the remains of the 7 victims.

Kula community gather beside the waters to receive corpses

Ibeto reacts, denies responsibility:

Ibeto group, in an unsigned and unauthored statement sent to media houses through an aide Thursday morning said Max Shipping Services Limited, a company in its group, noted with deep concern recent media reports concerning an incident at Kula community, Rivers State, involving its vessel, ANAMBRA BASIN FSO. ‘The reports contain allegations linking the vessel’s recovery operation to an oil spill, the deployment of armed personnel allegedly authorised by Chief Dr. Cletus Ibeto, and a boat capsizing in which several persons are feared to have lost their lives.’

From the statement, it was clear that Ibeto owns Max Shipping, while Max Shipping owns Anambra Basin FSO (vessel) which they hired out to Menal Technical Services Ltd to execute the job in Kula. This may have made the Kula community to see and know no other company than Ibeto.

The statement went on: ‘In view of the seriousness of these allegations, we consider it necessary to clarify the facts concerning our company’s involvement.

‘First, Max Shipping Services Limited is the owner of ANAMBRA BASIN FSO, not the operator of the oilfield or the underlying petroleum operations at Kula community. The vessel was hired to Menal Technical Services Limited under a Marine Equipment Hire Agreement dated 20 September 2024, subsequently amended by an Addendum.

‘Our company’s contractual relationship in respect of the vessel was with Menal Technical Services Limited. We were not a party to the separate operational arrangements that Menal or the end user may have had with the host community.

‘Under the ‘Hire Agreement’, Menal Technical Services Limited assumed specified responsibilities relating to operational exigencies, community settlements, security of the vessel and personnel, and demobilisation.

‘Following prolonged outstanding hire payments and repeated efforts to obtain settlement, Max Shipping Services Limited exercised its contractual right to retrieve its equipment.’

Before the demobilisation effort, the statement added, the crude oil stored in the vessel had been discharged. ‘Tank inspection documents issued by Checkirem and GSV Inspection Services Limited in September 2026 recorded that the inspected tanks were free and clean of crude oil at the time of inspection. These records form part of the documentary evidence being preserved for the relevant authorities.

‘We also made repeated efforts to resolve the situation peacefully. Our representatives met with community leaders and representatives on several occasions to explain the nature of our company’s contractual relationship with Menal Technical Services Limited, clarify that we were seeking to retrieve our own equipment, and address any misunderstanding concerning our role at the location. We sought a peaceful resolution rather than confrontation.

‘We are therefore deeply concerned by reports that have attributed responsibility for the incident and the alleged loss of life to our Chairman, Chief Dr. Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto, or have presented the vessel’s recovery operation as an operation undertaken by him in connection with the underlying oilfield activities.’

The vessel, ANAMBRA BASIN FSO, the statement said, is owned by Max Shipping Services Limited, a subsidiary of Ibeto Group, and was hired to Menal Technical Services Limited for deployment at the location.

‘The vessel’s ownership must be distinguished from the separate petroleum operations and community-related arrangements at Kula Community. Under the contractual arrangement, Menal Technical Services Limited, as the Hirer, was responsible for the vessel’s operations at the location, including the relevant operational arrangements and community-related obligations, in conjunction with the end user, as applicable.’

Accordingly, they said, the operational activities and arrangements undertaken by the Hirer and the end user in connection with the petroleum operations at the location should not be conflated with the ownership of the vessel.

‘We are deeply saddened by reports that a community boat capsized and that allegedly lives may have been lost. We recognise the distress and uncertainty experienced by those awaiting confirmation of the whereabouts and condition of their loved ones and as the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, we pray that the relevant security authorities investigate the incident and take all necessary lawful steps to protect human life and prevent further incidents.

‘We appeal to all parties to remain calm, refrain from violence, and allow the competent authorities to determine the facts.’

Max Shipping Services Limited was said to have always maintained cordial and peaceful relationships with its host community and neighbouring communities within its own areas of operation, supported by constructive community engagement and social responsibility initiatives.

They said the Company remained committed to fostering mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and positive relationships with the communities.

Max urged the media and the public to distinguish between the vessel’s ownership, the contractual responsibilities of its hirer, and the separate operations and arrangements at the oilfield. ‘Serious allegations should be based on verified facts, not assumptions.’

How the crushing and drowning took place:

BusinessDay deep inquiries and findings revealed that the NNPC/Belema JV awarded crude oil evacuation job to Max Shipping Ltd belonging to Ibeto Group since past few years.

The Kula community and their satellite settlements were said to have demanded for rights and host status in the evacuation jobs. The demand was said to have dragged on.

Max was said to have, however, given out some supply jobs to some Kula community vendors but the community claims they owed over the years.

Max hired out their vessel, Anambra Basin FSO to Penal Technical Services Ltd (hirer) to execute the job. The NNPC/Belema was said to have been unsatisfied with the services especially pollution issues and thus terminated the Max contract.

The community was said to have insisted that the vessel must leave their area until they were compensated for pollution, payment to community vendors, etc.

BusinessDay gathered that negotiations with the community continued at Ibeto office in GRA Port Harcourt. A source at the meetings told BusinessDay that as far as they were concerned, they were negotiating with Ibeto.

The source said they were surprised that while the negotiations were still ongoing, Ibeto through Max brought in the Army and attempted to pullout and go.

Community youths and vigilante team were said to have mobilized and intercepted the move and stopped them.

The vessel was described as very massive, but not self-propelled. It required two tug-boats to pull it along; one in front, one to push it at the back. Long ropes were tied to the sides of the vessel.

An army unit was procured to escort the vessel of the Kula waters. On the other hand, the Kula youths in their fast boat stayed at the side of the massive vessel, stopping it from going.

A source said at a point, the commander of the Army unit shouted order for the tugboat to pull. As it pulled, it was gathered that the rope stretched and threw the fastboat into the air and slammed it into the water (sea). The 15 youths allegedly slammed into the bottom of the sea, to the bottom of the vessel. Tragedy thus struck.

It was gathered that it was Community members that mobilized for rescue; they went to work and rescued some of the victims.

Eye witnesses said it must be the propeller of the fast boat that slashed at the victims. The bottom of the vessel was far into the water, and the youths were pushed there.

The rescue effort was said to find eight alive while seven were missing until five bodies were allegedly later found, still leaving two yet to be found.

Ibeto and Max insist that it is Penal Technicals Ltd (the hirer) that had any obligations and responsibilities with the Kula Community, but community sources insist that they had nothing to do with Penal but with Max for Ibeto.

On why the community youths chose the waterways to protest, a source said riverine people protest in the waters, not on land because they have no land like the upland people. On why the youths chose action instead of meetings with the company, the source said they had made several efforts and in fact were still in meetings in Port Harcourt when news came that the vessel was being pullout out. The source said the youths were given no option than to stage action.

Efforts to get reactions of the Army unit that was in charge of the escort duty have so far proved abortive.

ýýThe Abia State leadership of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has endorsed the re-election bid of Governor Alex Otti ahead of the 2027 governorship election. The forum commended his administration for what it described as the remarkable transformation of the state.

ý

ýThe forum made its position known on Thursday, October 22, 2026, during a courtesy visit to the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Caleb Ajagba, at Government House, Umuahia.

ý

ýBaba Lawal, state chairman, AYF, while speaking on behalf of the organisation, pledged the forum’s support for Governor Otti’s re-election, citing the administration’s achievements in infrastructure, security, healthcare, education and commerce.

ýLawal noted that the government’s policies and ongoing projects had renewed public confidence in governance and positioned Abia as an emerging model of development and inclusive leadership.

ýHe also reaffirmed the commitment of the Arewa community in the state to peaceful coexistence and sustained collaboration with the government to promote development, strengthen unity and preserve harmonious relations among residents of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.

ýResponding, Ajagba described Abia as a reference point for democratic governance, attributing the state’s transformation under Governor Otti to the Governor’s commitment to inclusive leadership, merit-based appointments, security and a people-oriented administration.

ýThe Chief of Staff commended the forum for its support during the 2023 governorship election, noting that the administration’s performance had demonstrated that good governance was achievable when competent leaders were entrusted with public responsibility.

ýHe stressed that the state government remained committed to treating all residents fairly, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or state of origin.

ýAjagba cited the appointment of non-indigenes to key positions, including the Head of Service, ýBenson Ojeikere, from Edo State and a Permanent Secretary, Sunday Jackson of Rivers State, as well as the recruitment of qualified personnel based on merit as evidence of the administration’s commitment to inclusiveness and equal opportunity.

He further emphasised that peace and security were indispensable to sustainable development, urging residents to support efforts aimed at maintaining stability and fostering cooperation across communities.

ýWhile appreciating the forum for its pledge of support ahead of the 2027 election, the Chief of Staff urged its members to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and ensure that their political decision to re-elect Governor Alex Otti is reflected at the ballot box.

ýHe assured the delegation of the state government’s continued support for residents who uphold peace, truth and responsible citizenship.

ýKenneth Wiper, Special Assistant to the Governor on Religious Affairs, and other top government officials were present during the visit.

Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said President Bola Tinubu has earned Nigerians’ confidence and deserves a second term to consolidate his reforms and deliver greater prosperity.

Yilwatda spoke on Saturday at the flag-off of the APC’s 2027 presidential campaign in Kaduna, expressing confidence that the ruling party would secure victory in the January 16 presidential election.

‘Mr President, the people have spoken, and their voice is loud and clear. Nigerians are happy. Our women are happy, our youths are happy, and the people are encouraged by your leadership,’ Yilwatda said.

He described Tinubu as a courageous leader willing to take difficult but necessary decisions in the country’s interest, insisting that the APC was united, prepared and confident of winning the election.

‘We are proud to present to Nigerians the most competent and credible candidate for the presidency,’ the APC chairman said.

Yilwatda urged Nigerians to assess the administration not only by the economic challenges confronting the country but also by its efforts to address longstanding structural problems.

‘The task before us is to consolidate the gains, deepen the reforms and ensure that the promise of Renewed Hope translates into greater opportunities, improved livelihoods and shared prosperity for our people,’ he said.

‘We believe that the President deserves the opportunity to complete this work and take Nigeria to the next level,’ he added.

The APC chairman said the party’s campaign would focus on the administration’s record, ongoing reforms and plans for national development, expressing confidence that the benefits of its policies would become more evident over time.

At the rally, Yilwatda also presented APC flags to governors of the North-West, describing the region as strategically important to the party’s electoral prospects.

He urged party leaders and supporters across the seven states to strengthen grassroots mobilisation, maintain unity and rally behind Tinubu and other APC candidates ahead of the 2027 general election.

‘The journey to 2027 has begun, and the APC is ready. We have a President with the courage to lead, a party with the capacity to mobilise and a vision centred on the prosperity of our people,’ he said.

The Kaduna rally marks the commencement of the APC’s nationwide presidential campaign as Tinubu seeks re-election amid mounting economic and security challenges.

Valentine Onyeka Ogunaka, Nigerian storytelling diplomat, poet, and development communications professional, has introduced a new framework aimed at transforming how refugees and vulnerable communities are represented in development communications, while warning that today’s narratives could become tomorrow’s artificial intelligence biases.

Speaking at the Communications for a Better World Conference, which was held in New York and virtually, Ogunaka presented Framing for a Cause (FFAC), a framework developed through his work with Ecrafti and years of field documentation in displacement and migration contexts.

His presentation, ‘Development Narratives Diplomacy: The Framing for a Cause Framework for Dignifying Refugee Portfolios and the Future of Storytelling as AI Listens,’ argued that many humanitarian narratives continue to portray vulnerable populations primarily through crisis, dependency, and need, often overlooking their capabilities, aspirations, and contributions.

‘People should not have to trade their dignity to be seen,’ Ogunaka told participants. ‘Behind every refugee portfolio or displacement story is a person with identity, agency, skills, and dreams.’

Developed from field experience across Nigeria, FFAC is built around four pillars: identity, agency, contribution, and possibility. The framework encourages communicators to move beyond deficit-focused storytelling and present refugees and vulnerable communities as active participants in shaping their own futures.

A central theme of the presentation was the growing impact of artificial intelligence on global communications.

‘If our development narratives consistently portray vulnerable populations through deficit, crisis, and dependency, what happens when machines learn those narratives and reproduce them at scale?’ Ogunaka asked.

The question resonated with ongoing global conversations around AI ethics, representation, and responsible communication.

He currently serves as Communications Coordinator for the ARRIVES Project at the International Trade Centre (ITC) and has contributed to communications initiatives involving migration, displacement, and refugee communities, including work connected to UNHCR. He is also internationally recognised for using poetry and storytelling as tools for social change and development advocacy.

The New York presentation marks a significant milestone for Ecrafti, bringing a framework developed from African field realities into international discussions on development communications, human dignity, and the future of AI-informed storytelling.

As institutions increasingly seek ethical approaches to communication, Ogunaka believes the challenge is no longer simply telling stories about vulnerable populations, but ensuring those stories reflect the full humanity of the people at their centre.

‘How we frame people today may shape how societies and AI understand human dignity tomorrow,’ he concluded.

A Nigerian can walk into a building marked ‘hospital’ with no reliable idea of what lies behind the signboard. Is a doctor on duty at night? Is oxygen available? Can the facility stabilise an emergency? Can it afford medicines, maintenance, salaries and diesel?

This is not a branding problem. In healthcare, financial weakness becomes clinical risk: unmaintained equipment, unsafe staffing, and oxygen and drugs bought only after the emergency has arrived.

Nigeria should therefore consider a national, tiered minimum-capital framework for hospitals. This should not be one arbitrary figure for every facility. Requirements should be calibrated to licensed scope, clinical complexity, bed capacity and referral responsibility.

The banking lesson

In July 2004, the Central Bank of Nigeria required the 89 deposit money banks then operating to raise their minimum capital to N25 billion by the end of 2005. By January 2006, 25 banks had emerged. The exercise raised N406.4 billion from the capital market and attracted US$652 million in foreign direct investment.

Capital worked alongside stricter supervision, better reporting, governance standards and real sanctions. The global financial crisis later showed that size cannot cure weak risk management or insider abuse. Money without governance merely finances a larger failure.

Nigeria also formalised differentiated licences. The 2024 recapitalisation set floors of N50 billion for regional banks, N200 billion for national banks and N500 billion for international banks. The principle is simple: an institution making larger promises across a wider system must hold deeper capital and stronger controls.

Why it belongs in healthcare

Banks hold people’s money. Hospitals hold people’s lives. Yet an operator can satisfy premises, personnel and equipment requirements without showing the financial capacity to sustain them through currency depreciation, equipment failure, delayed HMO payments or surges in demand.

The National Health Act 2014 already provides for classifying health establishments, and state regulators such as Lagos’s HEFAMAA prescribe minimum standards. What is missing is explicit, measurable financial resilience that matches the clinical claims a facility is licensed to make.

The stakes are high. Nigeria has more than 40,000 facilities, recorded in a registry marred by duplication and misclassification. Out-of-pocket spending made up 74.7 per cent of health expenditure in 2020, the highest share in the WHO African Region. Households already bear enormous risk at the point of care. They should not also discover, mid-emergency, that a hospital’s advertised capacity is fiction.

What the framework should look like

Licences should be tiered by what a facility is permitted to do:

Community or outpatient clinics.

General hospitals with inpatient beds, 24-hour cover, oxygen, diagnostics and emergency stabilisation.

Specialist or regional referral hospitals offering intensive care, dialysis, oncology or complex surgery.

National or quaternary institutions with system-wide referral roles.

Each tier needs a published capital methodology, not a politically chosen headline figure. It should include:

A paid-up capital floor.

A risk charge for beds and complex services.

At least six months of operating costs.

Protected reserves for payroll, oxygen and consumables.

Adequate indemnity insurance.

A funded plan for replacing equipment.

All of these should be indexed to medical inflation and exchange rates.

Capital must be verified, not merely declared, with annual audited proof that it has not been stripped out. It must also sit within a unified scorecard covering clinical capability, governance and data accountability. No facility should use a title that exceeds its licence. Patients should be able to scan a code and see a facility’s tier, authorised services and last inspection date. This is about standardising the promise.

Getting it right

A blunt order would close legitimate community clinics, especially outside cities, and push up prices. The framework must cover public and private facilities alike. Public hospitals could meet it through ring-fenced reserves, and faith-based providers through blended finance.

Small providers need transition time, technical support and affordable finance. They should also have the option to downgrade, narrow their scope, join networks or merge. Regulators must guard against local monopolies. The Basic Health Care Provision Fund and state insurance should protect access where commercial returns fall short.

A five-year pathway would run in three stages:

1. A registry clean-up and a cost-of-safe-care study.

2. Provisional licences and supported remediation.

3. Full enforcement.

Backed by transition finance from banks, development finance institutions, insurers and impact investors, this would make capitalisation a platform for investment rather than a threat of closure.

The real question

The question is not whether every hospital should become a giant corporation, or whether money can replace competent clinicians. It cannot. The question is whether any institution should be allowed to make life-and-death promises it lacks the capacity to keep.

When a Nigerian sees the word ‘hospital’, the signboard should describe a verified capability, not an aspiration.

. Olajubu is executive director, Health Business Academy for Africa. He is a seasoned banking and financial services executive with extensive leadership experience spanning commercial and retail banking, digital banking, investment banking, financial technology and enterprise transformation.

De’Remi Atanda, managing director and chief executive officer of Remita Payment Services Limited, has urged businesses and public institutions to rethink digital transformation, saying service excellence should be measured by customer outcomes rather than the sophistication of technology deployed.

He made the call at the 2026 Service Excellence Conference in Lagos, where business executives, regulators and public sector leaders examined how technology and human interaction can improve service delivery.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Tech-Enabled. Human-Powered,’ Atanda highlighted a persistent challenge: organisations invest heavily in digital platforms, automation and new features, yet customers continue to face delays, uncertainty and avoidable difficulties.

He urged service providers to understand customer expectations before deploying technology, warning that automated systems cannot compensate for poorly designed processes or unclear service standards.

‘Technology has been, and will continue to be, a means to an end, not the end itself. Customers are not looking for technology; they are looking for outcomes. Technology cannot deliver service excellence if it is optimising for the wrong expectations. The journey begins with how we understand what customers want, which ultimately comes down to less effort and greater certainty,’ he said.

During a panel discussion, Atanda explained that speed alone does not guarantee effective service. Customers may complete transactions quickly, but remain dissatisfied if processes are confusing or services fail when needed most. Digitising poorly designed processes, he warned, merely transfers their shortcomings to digital platforms.

‘Speed is just one attribute of service delivery. Fast service is not always pleasant, nor does it always meet customer expectations. To deliver true service excellence, you must combine speed with smart solutions and human connection. That is what builds consistency and trust,’ he said.

Atanda also stressed the importance of preserving human interaction in digital services, noting that technology should not come at the expense of empathy, responsiveness or accountability when problems arise.

He said maintaining the human element does not require a return to manual processes. Instead, organisations must ensure customers feel understood and receive appropriate support when interacting with a brand.

‘When we speak of human connection in technology, ‘human’ does not mean manual processes. It is about the emotional component of service delivery and how people relate to your brand. As we deploy technology as an invisible layer, we must ensure that it does not remove the human touch, because technology that remembers is technology that feels human,’ he added.

On accountability in financial services, Atanda noted that transactions often depend on multiple networks, service providers and intermediaries. However, he maintained that the brand dealing directly with customers must remain accountable for its promises.

He urged business leaders and policymakers to enforce service standards and ensure failures have consequences.

‘You don’t prepare for war in the time of war; you prepare for war in the time of peace. Service providers must design for failure as seriously as they design for success. In a complex financial ecosystem, reliability is shared across multiple partners, but accountability is never shared. It is entirely yours to deliver on your promise to the customer,’ he emphasised.

Atanda outlined five priorities for business leaders: understand customer expectations before selecting technology, map the entire customer journey, embed empathy and responsiveness in service processes, prepare for failures and measure performance through customer experiences rather than system uptime alone.

The conference, held during the 2026 Customer Service Week, reinforced the need to measure digital investments by the value they deliver to customers.

Better access to irrigation and roads is opening possibilities for farming communities in Kano. Turning those opportunities into dependable livelihoods will require sustained training, effective maintenance and fair access to water.

Faruku Musa Haruna and other farmers in Kumfada used to pool their money to buy plastic sheets, trapping enough water to irrigate small patches of land. They wanted to keep farming after the rains, but their ambitions depended on how much water they could save.

‘We always had the desire to farm, but we lacked the means,’ Haruna said.

When the rainy season was poor, dry-season cultivation could become impossible. The consequences extended beyond an unplanted field: fewer opportunities to work, fewer crops to sell, and another period of uncertainty before the next rains.

Now, Haruna describes a different experience. Water reaches the farms without the need to run a generator.

‘You just turn the valve, and water flows right into your field.’

He grows carrots, followed by onions, tomatoes, and peppers on the same land. With a more reliable supply, he hopes to add rice and wheat-crops he previously considered beyond reach because of water shortages.

For Haruna, irrigation offers greater freedom to decide what to plant and when. For the communities around Tiga, Challawa Gorge, and the Kafin Chiri dams, the larger question is whether that freedom can become a dependable livelihood.

More than water

The federal intervention around the three dams combines irrigation rehabilitation and expansion with erosion control, road improvements, and agricultural support. The Ecological Project Office, under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, oversees the intervention, while contractors undertake civil works, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture provides agricultural technical support.

Its importance reaches beyond Kano. Producing beyond the rainy season could help farmers supply markets more consistently and extend rural employment. But additional harvests must cover their costs before they can improve household finances.

Haruna says the improved water supply has reduced the need to leave his community in search of work. His experience illustrates what irrigation could mean for seasonal employment, although it does not establish a wider decline in migration.

Access to water may also change production expenses. Haruna no longer needs a generator to deliver irrigation water to his field. Yet seed, fertiliser, labour and transport remain part of the calculation, as does the price a buyer eventually offers.

The distinction is essential: growing more food and earning more money are connected, but one does not automatically guarantee the other.

Professor Lucky Osabuohien Omoigui, a plant breeding and genetics specialist at IITA’s Kano station, argues that farmers need support to make productive use of the infrastructure.

‘But you need to train them on how to use the water effectively, productively,’ he said.

IITA’s intervention covers water management, crop management, soil fertility and improved farming practices across 16 local government areas. The institute reports 1,890 beneficiaries overall, including 501 smallholder farmers who received training. Eight farmer field schools and 86 demonstration plots provide opportunities for practical learning.

These activities establish that agricultural support is taking place. Whether the lessons are adopted widely-and remain useful after the initial intervention-will determine their lasting value.

Making another season count

Omoigui describes initial reluctance among some farmers to make land available for demonstrations. That hesitation is understandable: a household relying on its harvest must weigh the risks of committing land and labour to an unfamiliar practice.

Demonstration plots can help farmers assess those risks. They allow techniques and varieties to be tested under local conditions, giving participants something more concrete than a promise of higher yields.

Omoigui also stresses the importance of farmers’ preferences. Improved varieties must suit the environment and the people expected to grow them. Technical performance alone cannot settle whether a farmer will adopt a new crop or change an established practice.

Even then, the assessment takes time.

‘So, you will see the effect, may be, in two or three years,’ he said.

His caution puts the early enthusiasm in perspective. Some participants report benefits already, but dependable conclusions about adoption, productivity, and income require evidence across successive seasons.

That includes understanding what happens to the soil when cultivation becomes more frequent.

Omoigui warns that repeatedly growing cereals on the same field can deplete soil fertility. He advocates cereal-legume rotations and appropriate fertiliser management to help sustain production.

For farmers, this is a practical concern. The opportunity to plant again after harvesting has limited value if declining soil fertility makes each subsequent crop pricier or less productive.

Training therefore needs to extend beyond the arrival of water. Farmers require advice on planting decisions, suitable varieties, fertiliser use, and land management over time. They also need access to the inputs required to apply that advice.

The measure of success will be what farmers can continue doing when organised demonstrations and initial support have ended.

A harvest still needs a road

Water is only one part of the journey from planting to payment.

Abdullahi Hamza, a farmer in Gana, recalls how poor road conditions complicated trips to Bakin-Fa, particularly during rain. Onions could fall, become damaged, or spoil on the way to market.

‘By the time we reached the market, they would be crushed and spoiled,’ he said.

He revealed that repairs have made it easier to transport produce by motorcycle or car. His account shows how transport difficulties can undermine a successful harvest before a farmer reaches a buyer.

For rural businesses, access works can matter just as much.

Hafsat Yakubu, a businesswoman in Kwanar-Dangora, says flooding previously prevented customers from reaching her street. Drainage improvements, she states, have made access easier and helped her business.

Neither account provides a measured change in sales or losses. Both, however, identify a clear connection between infrastructure and everyday commerce: farmers need to move produce, and businesses need customers to reach them.

At Darki, Adamu Salisu of Firm and Resolute Engineering describes a 1.5-kilometre market bypass intended to ease Thursday congestion. Road markings remained outstanding when he spoke.

The bypass illustrates why transport belongs in the irrigation discussion. More production creates additional demand for movement, storage, and buyers. A canal can help grow a crop; it cannot ensure that the crop arrives at market in excellent condition or commands a worthwhile price.

Roads and drainage also affect journeys beyond trading. Their condition shapes how easily residents can reach farms, services, and neighbouring communities. Those benefits deserve attention alongside construction milestones.

In Sumaila town, residents describe how gully erosion threatened homes while inaccessible roads forced car owners to park outside their neighbourhood. Ado Ibrahim, a resident, remembers carrying household goods by hand because vehicles could not enter.

However, through President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, implemented by the Ecological Project Office under the leadership of Permanent Secretary Aishetu Gogo Ndayako, the construction of roads and erosion-control infrastructure has improved accessibility, allowing residents to move more freely.

Who keeps the water flowing?

At Kafin Chiri, Jibril Muhammad Ibrahim, lead site engineer for ECL Construction Limited, describes a completed main canal alongside continuing work on distribution and field channels.

His assessment that rehabilitation was 80 percent complete applied to the embankment section. This figure does not represent the total completion status for the entire intervention.

For farmers, the difference matters. A completed main canal does not establish that every intended plot receives enough water when it is needed. The smaller channels carrying water onward and the arrangements governing its distribution are equally important.

Maintenance will become a recurring obligation. Channels need clearing, damaged structures need repair, and faults need a timely response. Responsibility for that work-and how it will be financed-must be understood before deterioration interrupts supply.

The Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority has supported engagement with water user associations and dam managers on operations and maintenance. The practical test will be whether these arrangements continue to function over successive seasons.

Fair access is another condition for lasting gains. Farmers need workable rules for sharing water and resolving disputes, including arrangements that protect those cultivating plots farther along a canal.

Women’s participation also warrants closer attention. IITA reports that women comprise 20 percent of its overall beneficiaries and 97 of the 501 trained farmers. Those numbers show participation but do not explain who controls irrigated land, receives reliable water, and makes decisions about crop income.

A durable intervention must be judged by those experiences as well as its physical reach.

Back in Kumfada, Haruna’s immediate concern is simpler: the water that once constrained his farming is now more accessible. He can consider another crop and envision more work within his community.

What remains uncertain is how consistently that opportunity will pay. Success will depend on reliable supply, healthy soil, useful advice, maintained infrastructure, and a market return that justifies the effort.

Haruna has described what it means to turn a valve and see water enter his field. The more demanding test will come after repeated harvests, when farming families can judge whether another planting season has brought dependable earnings.

ýýMonday Okpebholo, governor of Edo State, has terminated the appointment of Nicholas Odamah as Regent of Ikpeshi/Egbegere Clan in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of the state, barely 11 months after his appointment.

ýBusinessDay reports that the governor had, on November 13, 2025, removed Zaiki Luckman Momodu Odamah III, the erstwhile traditional ruler of the clan and appointed Nicholas Odamah as regent.

ýA statement issued at the time by Umar Musa Ikhilor, the Secretary to the State Government, said the removal of Luckman Momodu Odamah III followed a review of the circumstances surrounding the ongoing disputes over traditional leadership in the clan and kingdom.

ýIkhilor added that the action was taken in the interest of peace, stability and due process.

ýHe subsequently announced the appointment of Nicholas Odamah as regent of Ikpeshi/Egbegere Clan with immediate effect, pending the determination of the rightful occupant of the throne.

ýThe statement said the regent was expected to oversee the affairs of the clan pending further decisions.

ýHe was also mandated to oversee the clan’s affairs in a custodial capacity and ensure full compliance with government directives.

ýHowever, more than 11 months after the appointment, the state government, in a letter dated October 20, 2026, announced the termination of Nicholas Odamah’s appointment and the restoration of Zaiki Luckman Momodu Odamah III as the traditional ruler of Ikpeshi/Egbegere Clan.

ýThe letter, signed by Ikhilor, said the decision followed appeals from concerned indigenes of Akoko-Edo and the subsequent confirmation that the dispute over traditional leadership in the clan was already before a competent court of law.

ýAccording to the letter, the government decided to review and rescind its earlier decision in view of these developments.

ýThe statement read in part: ‘Consequently, the State Government hereby terminates the appointment of Mr Nicholas Odamah as Regent of Ikpeshi/Egbegere Clan and restores the status quo ante his appointment.

ý’All security agencies have been duly notified of this development and directed to maintain peace, law and order, as well as ensure the protection of lives and property in the affected communities.

ý’The Edo State Government remains committed to upholding fairness, justice and the rule of law, while preserving the state’s traditional institutions and values’, he said

ýThe government urged all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint and allow the judicial process to run its course.

ýIt would be recalled that the removed traditional ruler, Zaiki Luckman Odamah III, had petitioned Governor Monday Okpebholo and the Edo State House of Assembly, urging them not to confirm Roland Otaru as a commissioner in the state cabinet over alleged bias in the chieftaincy dispute.

ýOtaru, the current Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, is an indigene of the clan.

ýIn a petition addressed to the governor on August 29, 2025, the monarch argued that confirming Otaru would effectively place him in a position to judge his own case.

ýOdamah III alleged that Otaru had opposed his ascension to the throne following the death of his father on September 11, 2011.

ýAccording to him, ‘Otaru has, since the death of my father, HRH Momodu Odamah II, been working tirelessly against my nomination, traditional installation, and eventual appointment by the state government as a successor to my father.

ý’From 2012 till date, Otaru has been acting and continues to act as counsel to the Akoko-Edo traditional council that unsuccessfully challenged my appointment.

ý’To this end, he unsuccessfully opposed the suit I filed before the High Court, Igarra, which now has a pending appeal at the Supreme Court.

ý’In addition, in December 2020, Otaru, who is from the Emegbe family of Igun kindred, raised one Joseph Shuru Uduagbamen from his kindred and sought to impose him as the Zaiki of the Ikpeshi/Egbigere Clan. To carry out this plot, they filed a case before the Igarra High Court to set aside the gazette/declaration regulating the appointment of the traditional ruler.

ý’The suit was dismissed on March 16, 2022, and the Emegbe family proceeded to the Court of Appeal, Benin. From 2012 to date, Otaru has consistently opposed the position of the Edo State Government, the Attorney-General of Edo State, and the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in all court cases concerning my ascension to the throne, from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and now the Supreme Court.

ý’Thus, his membership of the State Executive Council will ultimately put him in a position that makes him a judge in his own case, that is, to supplant the lawful position of the Edo State Government that has never filed or accepted any contrary position to that contained in the chieftaincy declaration gazette,’ he added.

ýThe traditional ruler said his petition was intended to present the facts to the governor before Otaru assumed office as a commissioner.

ýHe added that the petition was aimed at ensuring that appointments of traditional rulers in the state complied fully with the relevant gazette or declaration enacted into law by the government.

ýIt would also be recalled that Governor Okpebholo had, on April 30, 2025, removed three traditional rulers in Edo North Senatorial District.

ýThe affected rulers were: Umoru Inusa Umoru, the Aidonogie of South Ibie; Lukman Akemokue, the Okuokpellagbe of Okpella; and George Oshiapi Egabor, the Okumagbe of Uwano Kingdom.

ýThe governor said that their removal was due to irregularities in their appointments, violations of customary succession laws and alleged involvement in kidnapping and insecurity.

ýHe subsequently reappointed Aliyu Kelvin Danesi as Aidonogie of South Ibie and appointed Michael Eshioronoya Sado as Okuokpellagbe of Okpella following his selection by the kingmakers.

ýThe appointment to the stool of Okumagbe of Uwano Kingdom was still pending at the time but has since been filled by Francis Alimikhena, a former senator who represented Edo North Senatorial District following the death of George Oshiapi Egabor.

Man has come a long way from the days of Aesop, the ancient Greek storyteller who developed a style of travelling to the animal world to draw lessons for men and women. History has a bouquet of his jungle stories and their morals: The ant and the grasshopper (You can shape your tomorrow today); The boy who cried wolf (It’s the lie you’re used to which will be remembered, not the truth you only tell once); The fox and the grapes (One can’t accommodate what’s beyond your reach; you will despise it).

Modern novelists also write to instruct or entertain us, some from forest life, like Nigeria’s Daniel Fagunwa (Ogboju ode ninu igbo irunmole, 1936) and the Englishman George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1945), with others strictly seeking inspiration from the world of human beings as Professor Tunde Ope-Davies has done in his work, Winds Against My Sails.

Ope-Davies dispenses with creatures of the thicket to relate his account; but he also proffers great precepts not virtuously different from those we receive through the writers who commune with the woods. Either way, the readers are enriched, hugely tutored to change perceptions as they reap a harvest of predictable and unexpected twists in the tale.

We have plenty of them in the work of Ope-Davies (Opeibi), a professor in Digital Humanities, Digital Cultures, English and Discourse Studies at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, beginning with a tell-tale autobiographical title for a work of fiction. About the Author back cover section of the book conceals the dark days of the author’s own headwinds. But critics wouldn’t consider it unreasonable to look at Professor Wale Jones in the novel and apply poetic license to unveil him as the alter ego of Opeibi, himself a heavily garlanded don like his creation.

Jones, the main character, leaves rustic Jadesore to embark on what the author calls the Voyage of Life. The name of his village challenges the ambitious to venture out for breakthroughs eluding them. Yet, it doesn’t reveal that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Wale gets the delicacy alright; but it is at the expense of much travail, trauma and toil.

There are near-death experiences; there are fatalities; there are several heartbreaks as well as betrayals; missed opportunities that present no second chances are also recorded; we equally learn of juvenile escapades that could have shortened the life of the hero; there is a battle over the choice of a marriage partner; a time of abandonment by family, friends and loved ones is also shared; we read of days of hunger when biscuits and mint sweets miserably cater for hunger; there’s story of an absentee father; when he’s home however, he fails to model virtue as he engages in nocturnal drinking orgies with friends in the presence of impressionable children; there are assaults of ill health and threats of death at childbirth.

To be sure, some of these are occasioned by poverty. Not all, though. How about the struggles Jones encounter even after the young man has crossed the threshold, in a manner of speaking, and he begins to get local and global recognition denied peers and mentors? The winds against his sail don’t cease in the ivory tower. They are personified by Katakiti, ”who had remained at the same rank for years. To watch Wale, once his student, rise above him was a bitter pill.” There’s also a season of character perfidy when Wale Jones is accused of being ”too friendly with female students” and ”selling a colleague’s textbook to students, a practice the university had outlawed.” Wale attributes all what he’s facing to ”politics of the system.”

Rightly, the blurb concludes that Wale’s faith in God and ”an unyielding spirit of perseverance” are the steps he mounts to overcome the winds of adversity.

So, like Karl Marx, the legendary German co-founder of Scientific Socialism, whose bronze memorial he gazes at in an unnamed European city, Professor Jones becomes ”a man who faced his fires and emerged remade,” ready to change his defective system as Marx attempted to.

Now, in view of an opening poem that predicts ultimate victory for the voyager ”Because He that stillest the noise of the Seas”, is with the explorer, it may be tempting to dismiss Professor Ope-Davies’ Winds Against My Sails as a simplistic literary contraption primed from the beginning for a happy end, regardless of the protagonist’s tumultuous killer adventures. That would be an unbalanced ruling that misses the Olympian plot of Opeibi’s epic. He brings his story under a roof of sweeping flashbacks, critical commentary, history (ancestral and contemporary), objective philosophy, Biblical theology, all of which reveals the author’s catholic mind.

These are carried by a language rich in fluid prose. metaphor and semiotics.

Let’s examine, for instance, Opeibi’s capture of ‘dust’ to take the readers through their own semiotic journeys. as it were. It first appears as ”chalk dust” in Chapter One. Later, he says ”Dust rose like spirits over the playing fields…” And when Wale Jones got the new birth in Christ, we saw the dust called to action again: ”…he bent his knees on the dusty ground and gave his life to Christ.”

Thus, in the literary construct of Professor Ope-Davies’ world, there’s a sustained imagery of the lowly dust and chalk, both of which appear to have sentenced Wale to limitless and hopeless penury. Once, the lecturer is seen collapsing ”at the foot of a chalkboard.” But, to get into Divine embrace wherein is final liberation, Wale must align with ”the dusty ground” and look up to God from that lowly position. He must stoop to conquer.

Is Ope-Davies testing the waters of fiction with Winds Against My Sails after a string of acclaimed nonfiction publications, including the biographical Kumuyi: Defender of the Faith, which he wrote with co-members of the Editorial Board of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry?

This is a heuristic quest with the possibility of turning in a new-look Tunde Ope-Davies.