Category: Business Day

African founders, technology professionals and investors operating between the United Kingdom and Africa are set to gain a new platform for raising capital, building partnerships and expanding into new markets as TN Naija announces Connect and Ignite 2026 (CXI’26).

The one-day conference and evening social, scheduled for August 29 in Birmingham, United Kingdom, is designed to bring together founders, engineers, operators, investors and other technology professionals working across the UK-Africa corridor.

Organisers expect more than 400 participants at the event, which carries the theme, ‘Unlocking Opportunities Across Borders.’

According to TN Naija, the gathering is intended to move beyond conventional networking by creating opportunities for participants to pitch businesses, identify investors and partners, explore market-entry opportunities and build relationships that can translate into cross-border commercial activity.

‘The corridor is the community, where deals happen, markets are entered, and careers are built across borders,’ Dele Bakare, director, TN Naija, said.

The event comes as African technology entrepreneurs increasingly operate across multiple markets, with the UK serving as an important destination for African founders, investors and technology professionals seeking access to capital, talent, customers and international partnerships.

From networking to deal-making

TN Naija said CXI’26 will place practical business outcomes at the centre of the gathering.

The daytime programme, running from 11am to 6pm, will feature an opening keynote and fireside chat focused on the UK-Africa technology corridor, followed by structured huddle sessions addressing issues including fundraising, engineering talent, fintech regulation and cross-border immigration.

The format is intended to give participants opportunities to engage directly around some of the issues affecting founders and professionals trying to build businesses and careers across jurisdictions.

A key feature will be the 60-second founder pitch wall during the evening programme, providing entrepreneurs with an opportunity to present their ideas and businesses to other participants.

The event will also feature a ‘Find Your Co-Founder’ matching activity, designed to connect entrepreneurs and technology professionals looking for complementary skills or potential business partners.

Other activities include timed speed-networking rounds and a community input wall.

Investors, ecosystem players targeted

Beyond founders, CXI’26 is expected to attract venture capital firms, corporate sponsors, innovation hubs and other ecosystem enablers seeking direct access to African technology professionals and entrepreneurs operating across the UK-Africa corridor.

For investors, the platform could provide access to founders building businesses with links to African and UK markets, while corporate participants will have an opportunity to position their brands within a specialised technology community.

TN Naija is also offering sponsorship opportunities to organisations seeking brand visibility, strategic positioning and access to potential deal flow within the corridor.

Speaker and partnership opportunities remain open ahead of the event.

Birmingham as the meeting point

TN Naija selected Birmingham as the host city for this year’s conference, citing its growing technology ecosystem and diverse population.

The choice also reflects the organisers’ broader attempt to position the UK-Africa technology corridor as extending beyond London’s established technology and investment networks.

The conference will bring together predominantly Nigerian and other African technology professionals in the UK, alongside participants connected to African markets.

CXI’26 will also introduce Corridor Honours, a 90-minute awards session recognising founders, operators, investors and community builders contributing to the development of the UK-Africa technology ecosystem.

The awards are intended to highlight individuals helping to build connections between both markets, from entrepreneurship and investment to technology operations and community development.

The evening programme will continue after the conference with a structured social event rather than a conventional networking reception, with organisers seeking to maintain the focus on meaningful connections.

TN Naija said the overall objective is to create a platform where relationships formed in the UK can translate into opportunities in African markets, while African businesses and professionals can gain access to international capital, expertise and partnerships. Registration for CXI’26 is open through TN Naija’s Connect and Ignite platform.

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has confirmed seven additional insurance companies as having met the minimum capital requirements under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, effectively bringing the industry’s prolonged recapitalisation exercise to a close.

The latest approvals push the number of confirmed insurance companies to 50, comprising 48 insurance companies and two reinsurance companies.

In a notice to the general public dated August 13, 2026, the commission said the seven insurers had been confirmed and verified as compliant with the minimum capital requirements prescribed under NIIRA 2025 and applicable insurance laws and guidelines.

The newly cleared companies are emPLE General Insurance Limited, emPLE Life Assurance Limited, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Tangerine Life Insurance Limited, Alliance and General Insurance Plc, Guinea Insurance Plc and Regency Alliance Insurance Plc.

Of the seven companies, four are non-life insurers, while three operate in the life insurance segment. The commission listed emPLE General, Sovereign Trust, Alliance and General, Guinea Insurance and Regency Alliance under the non-life category, while emPLE Life and Tangerine Life were listed as life insurers.

With the latest confirmation, NAICOM said a total of 48 insurance companies and two reinsurance companies have now been confirmed and verified as compliant with the minimum capital requirements under NIIRA 2025 and the commission’s applicable laws and guidelines.

Those that did not make it the list include Universal Insurance, Staco Insurance, Nigeria Re, NICON, Royal Exchange Prudential Life and Goldlink.

The regulator described the development as bringing the Nigerian insurance industry’s recapitalisation exercise to a successful conclusion.

The conclusion marks the latest stage in the regulatory drive to strengthen the capital base of Nigeria’s insurance industry and improve the capacity of insurers to underwrite larger risks.

The seven companies join the 41 insurers and two reinsurers previously confirmed by NAICOM as having successfully met the new capital thresholds following the verification of their recapitalisation efforts.

The commission’s notice, signed by management represents the latest official update on the compliance status of insurers under the NIIRA 2025 recapitalisation framework.

The completion of the exercise is expected to leave the industry with a more clearly defined group of adequately capitalised insurers, while companies that failed to meet the prescribed requirements face the consequences of non-compliance under the regulatory framework.

Growing disparities in lecturers’ salaries and delays in implementing key provisions of the 2025 federal government-Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) agreement are raising renewed concerns about the stability of Nigeria’s university education system.

According to recent updates from ASUU zonal leadership regarding compliance and implementation of the Consolidated Academic and Tools Allowance (CATA) and related arrears, 10 state universities have so far complied, although the union did not publish an official national register that comprehensively lists the institutions.

The federal government-ASUU agreement includes a 40 percent upward review of lecturers’ salaries, improved conditions of service, and the introduction of a new professorial cadre allowance for full-time professors and readers.

However, the increment has yet to be implemented in full across public universities, both federal and state.

Keinde Idou, ASUU chairman at the University of Lagos, told BusinessDay that probably one or two of the public universities have been paid part of the agreement, but that none of the universities have been paid comprehensively, including UNILAG.

‘The 2025 FG-ASUU agreement is in four parts: the CONUASS, CATA, EAA, and the professorial allowance. The only thing the federal government has been releasing in cash is the CONUASS.

‘No university has been complying with the agreement fully because the federal government has not released the money; it’s just a promise; they push it to the university to pay,’ he said.

Idou, however, explained that the federal government has paid the CONUASS from January to June, but has refused to release the funds for July to date; it has pushed the payment to the universities to settle with their IGR.

Speaking about the possible consequences of the amputated salary payment, he said that it is better imagined than said.

‘I don’t want to go beyond the mandate that the NEC has given because only our president can speak about that,’ he said.

Similarly, Stanley Alaubi, a senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, disclosed that the problem is rooted in the fact that the federal government is yet to release funds to the various institutions.

‘The federal government has not financially backed up the agreement for now but expects the universities to use their internally generated revenue and afterwards they would be refunded when the budget for the payment is released,’ he said.

Alaubi emphasised that many universities claim their IGR cannot cover the increased salary as they do not have the financial muscle, hence the disparities noticed across the various public universities.

Kayode Soremekun, former vice-chancellor of the Federal University of Oye Ekiti, said that there is always a time lag between when the governments respond to their part of the agreements with ASUU, but insisted that the normalcy should not be allowed to linger for too long.

Soremekun emphasised that it is in the interest of the various state governments to keep faith with the agreement in a timely way.

‘The longer the delay, the more onerous will be the outstanding obligations which will continue to pile up,’ he said.

Meanwhile, he expressed concerns that lecturers are not paid their dues in some states even after the huge transfers from President Tinubu’s administration have made huge funds available to them in the wake of the fuel subsidy removal.

The former university don said the implication of the amputated salary and deal delays is that it will lead to talented academics moving from state universities to federal universities.

‘Such a situation will definitely worsen the profile of the state universities. This is because, by the latest rankings of Nigerian universities across the world, federal universities are up there when comparisons are made with their counterparts in the states,’ he noted.

Nubi Achebo, director of academic planning at Nigerian University of Technology and Management (NUTM), said the disparity in payment scale will make state-owned universities less attractive to prospective lecturers, which is already happening.

‘When federal universities pay CONUASS, CATA, and other allowances from Jan 2026, but a state university in the same geopolitical zone doesn’t, you’re asking lecturers to do the same job for markedly different pay.

‘If state A pays the 40 percent increase and state B doesn’t, and state B also has arrears, rational choice pushes talent toward federal institutions or even outside academia. We’ve seen this before with brain drain, and the 2025 agreement explicitly cited ‘curb brain drain’ as an objective. Double standards undermine that,’ he said.

A study shows that aside from Rivers State University (RSU), Lagos State University (LASU) and Nasarawa State University, where academic staff are paid significantly more than their counterparts in federal universities, other state institutions pay extremely low salaries and allowances.

The average monthly salaries of state university lecturers range from N120,000 to N150,000 for graduate assistants; N150,000 to N180,000 for assistant lecturers; N200,000 to N240,000 for lecturer II; N250,000 to N280,000 for lecturer I; N300,000-N360,000 for senior lecturers; N380,000 to N550,000 for associate professors/readers; and N580,000-N700,000 for professors.

While on paper, the average federal university lecturer earns from roughly N180,000-N500,000 a month to N250,000-N700,000 a month, depending on rank and step.

Recall that BusinessDay reported that ASUU has issued a two-week ultimatum to 20 universities to address outstanding issues or risk industrial action, raising fresh concerns over a possible disruption to academic activities in public tertiary institutions.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has intensified its mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections, as the party’s statewide ‘thank you’ tour moved to the Central Senatorial District.

The campaign-style engagement, which began in Afon, headquarters of Asa Local Government Area, and continued in Ilorin West, was used by the party’s candidates to rally grassroots support and seek the backing of traditional rulers, religious leaders, stakeholders and party members.

The delegation was led by the APC governorship candidate and Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Salihu Yakubu Danladi.

The visit followed the completion of the tour in Kwara South, with party leaders using the occasion to highlight the achievements of the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and solicit support for APC candidates in the 2027 elections.

In Ilorin West, Balogun Alanamu of Ilorin, Usman Abubakar Atolagbe Jos, who spoke on behalf of the Emir of Ilorin, said the visit demonstrated the party’s respect for the traditional institution.

He said the Emir had directed Magajis, Alanguas and Daudus in the local government to receive the APC candidates.

‘When we heard you were coming to Ilorin West, the Emir of Ilorin, under whom this local government is, mandated us to receive you,’ he said.

Balogun prayed for the success of the candidates at the polls and for the successful completion of Governor Abdulrazaq’s administration.

Similarly, Kolapo Abdulkadir, the District Head of Balah, who led other district heads in Asa Local Government to receive the delegation, prayed for Danladi and other APC candidates and pledged strong grassroots support for the party.

Responding, Danladi thanked traditional rulers, religious leaders, party stakeholders and supporters for their support, assuring them that the party would not disappoint them.

He also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying the administration had made efforts to stabilise the country and expressing confidence in the President’s re-election bid.

‘The President has done a lot and, by His grace, the second term is assured for continuity of progress and development,’ Danladi said.

He urged APC supporters to remain confident ahead of the elections, assuring them that the party was determined to retain power in the State.

‘We are here to thank the people of Ilorin West. That is the purpose of coming here today. We are here to reassure you that, by His grace, as you stand for APC, we are going to win,’ he said.

Danladi also appealed to the people to sustain their support for Governor Abdulrazaq, saying the administration had made significant interventions in Ilorin West and across the State.

‘You already know what your son, His Excellency Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has done for Ilorin West and Kwara State in general. What he is doing will never stop. You will not be disappointed for having SYD,’ he said.

The member of the House of Representatives representing Ilorin West/Asa Federal Constituency and APC candidate for the seat, Mukhtar Tolani Shagaya, expressed confidence that the party’s candidates would win the 2027 elections.

Shagaya said Kwarans would not want to reverse the gains recorded under the APC administration, urging voters to support continuity.

Also speaking, Abdullateef Gidado Alakawa, the Chairman of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authoriity said the Abdulrazaq administration’s achievements were partly enabled by the support it received from the legislature.

Alakawa, an indigene of Asa, described Danladi as a grassroots politician with electoral value and commended him for providing the governor with legislative support to implement his programmes.

Shehu Raheem Adaramaja, Professor and Chairman of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said Asa Local Government had benefited from the state government’s interventions in education, roads, healthcare and social investment.

He said the projects and programmes implemented by the administration had impacted various communities across the local government.

A party elder in Asa, Issa Amasa, commended Danladi’s integrity, humility and competence, urging him to remain accessible to the people if elected governor.

Mohammed Kari, former commissioner for Insurance and former managing director of NICON Insurance and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation(Nigeria Re), has warned the Federal Government against intervening in the regulatory actions of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), in the ongoing recapitalisation of the sector, arguing that doing so could undermine and weaken confidence in the industry.

In an open letter to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy dated August 12, Kari, who was former commissioner for Insurance/CEO of NAICOM faulted what he described as attempts by NICON Insurance and Nigeria Re to secure political intervention over regulatory requirements arising from the implementation of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.

Kari’s intervention comes against the backdrop of petitions by the two companies to the Ministry of Finance over NAICOM’s regulatory demands, including issues surrounding recapitalisation, capital verification and escrow requirements. He argues that allowing the ministry to intervene in matters that fall within NAICOM’s statutory mandate risks turning regulatory enforcement into a political negotiation.

‘I write this as an open letter to you, deliberately choosing a public medium in the interest of total transparency,’ Kari said, explaining that the dispute goes beyond the two companies and touches on the structure and credibility of the insurance market.

On Kari’s letter to the Ministry of Finance, an industry expert said, ‘He is indeed in an amazingly unique position given the circumstances. So glad he has spoken up. ‘A strong and well written letter. Let’s see what Jimoh Ibrahim’s benefactors cook up. We wait in renewed hope that PBAT’s reform agenda will not be selective in application, the expert said, qualifying the letter by Mohammed Kari, the Wazirin Bauchi.

Kari’s central argument is that Nigeria cannot build a stronger insurance industry if some operators are allowed to negotiate their way around rules that other companies have spent significant resources complying with.

According to him, more than 90 percent of insurance operators have followed the recapitalisation process by raising fresh capital, depositing required reserves with the Central Bank of Nigeria, undergoing verification and settling regulatory fees.

Against this backdrop, he says granting NICON and Nigeria Re special treatment would punish companies that complied with the law while rewarding those seeking exemptions through political channels.

The issue, therefore, is bigger than whether the two companies should be allowed additional time or regulatory concessions. For Kari, it is about who ultimately has the authority to determine whether an insurer has met the requirements for operating in Nigeria.

NIIRA 2025, he argues, gives NAICOM the statutory responsibility to enforce the rules governing operators. He specifically points to Sections 8(6) and 8(9), saying the provisions set out what should happen when an operator’s licence is cancelled without assigning the Ministry of Finance a role in that process.

His question to the minister is therefore straightforward, if the law has assigned regulatory enforcement to NAICOM, why should the ministry intervene or overrule the regulator?

According to Kari, NICON and Nigeria Re are not ordinary entrants to the market. Both were established by the Federal Government, NICON in 1969 and Nigeria Re. in 1977, and they have played a foundational role in developing domestic underwriting and reinsurance capacity.

Kari acknowledges that legacy, noting that the institutions trained generations of Nigerian and West African insurance professionals and were once pillars of the industry.

But he argues that their historical importance cannot become a permanent exemption from current regulatory requirements. Following their privatisation in the mid 2000s, he says, both institutions suffered governance problems, balance-sheet pressures and operational decline, with interventions by NAICOM and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON at different periods.

That history is important to the current dispute because it raises the question of whether the government should preserve an institution because of what it once represented, or insist that every operator meet the same financial and prudential standards.

The former insurance commissioner says allowing the Ministry of Finance to become an avenue of appeal against NAICOM’s enforcement decisions would create what he calls an ‘uneven playing field.’

Companies that have raised capital, paid regulatory fees and submitted themselves to verification would effectively bear the cost of compliance, while companies receiving concessions could continue operating without meeting the same standards.

That, he argues, could create an artificial cost advantage for non-compliant operators and undermine incentives for other insurers to strengthen their balance sheets, and more importantly, it could send a damaging signal to investors.

He said Insurance recapitalisation is ultimately intended to produce better-capitalised institutions capable of absorbing shocks, paying claims and supporting economic activity. If investors conclude that capital requirements can be weakened through political intervention, the credibility of the reform itself becomes questionable.

Kari identifies four potential consequences to such intervention, including unfair competition, reduced incentives for genuine capital building, weaker investor confidence and greater risk to policyholders.

He acknowledges that governments can intervene where the collapse of a major financial institution presents a genuine systemic risk, a ‘too big to fail’ situation in which failure could trigger wider economic damage.

According to Kari, both institutions have suffered significant declines in market share and operational scale and no longer have the market footprint that could make their failure a systemic threat to Nigeria’s financial system. His argument is that the government should not deploy a systemic-risk justification to shield companies whose difficulties do not pose such a threat.

This distinction is central to the letter, urging that government intervention should address systemic risk, not provide regulatory relief to individual companies struggling to meet industry-wide standards.

Kari also draws a comparison with other financial regulators, particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Pension Commission.

His argument is that regulated entities in banking and pensions generally understand that recapitalisation and prudential requirements are matters for their respective regulators, rather than issues to be negotiated through the Ministry of Finance.

Allowing insurance companies to approach the ministry whenever they disagree with NAICOM, he warns, could reduce NAICOM to an ineffective regulator whose decisions can be challenged through political channels. That would create regulatory arbitrage at precisely the point when Nigeria is trying to strengthen financial-sector institutions.

The implication extends beyond insurance, he said, noting that a credible regulatory environment requires investors to know that rules apply consistently, enforcement is predictable and capital requirements cannot be circumvented through government intervention.

The stakes are particularly high because the recapitalisation is intended to make the insurance industry more capable of supporting Nigeria’s economic growth.

A stronger insurance sector can absorb corporate and household risks, mobilise long-term funds, support infrastructure and investment, and reduce the financial shock from disasters and business failures.

If weakly capitalised insurers remain in the system because of political concessions, the consequences may ultimately fall on policyholders. Kari argues that regulatory standards exist primarily to ensure that insurers have the financial capacity to meet claims when losses occur.

The danger, therefore, is not simply that one or two companies may receive preferential treatment, but that the broader purpose of recapitalisation could be diluted, Kari stated.

Adedapo Adewale, a Lagos-based content creator and pumping machine engineer, has built an unconventional path that combines creativity with technical skills.

Adewale, popularly known online as baba_beji77, began creating content in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown while he was still in secondary school. According to him, friends, classmates and teachers had previously encouraged him to explore content creation because of his ability to entertain people, although he initially viewed it mainly as something he did for fun.

The lockdown period eventually changed his perspective, leading him to take content creation more seriously.

However, his creative journey was interrupted in 2022 after he completed secondary school. With limited funds available for further education, Adewale decided to acquire a practical skill that could help him generate income and eventually support his educational plans.

He went into the repair and servicing of pumping machines, developing his skills as a pumping machine engineer. The work provided him with an independent source of income and eventually enabled him to acquire a phone, which gave him the opportunity to return to content creation.

He subsequently resumed creating content while continuing his technical work.

Adewale currently operates in Lagos and runs EMPIRE FLOW, a business focused on the repair and servicing of pumping machines. At the same time, he is applying for admission into a higher institution.

His experience reflects the increasingly diverse paths young Nigerians are taking as they attempt to combine education, entrepreneurship, technical skills and creative pursuits.

For Adewale, the two areas have developed alongside each other rather than competing for attention. His technical work provides a practical profession, while content creation remains the creative pursuit he has continued to develop since 2020.

Presale timing decides a lot in crypto, because early stages carry the lowest cost. Hyperliquid trades around $54 after a small pullback, still up sharply from where it started the year. Avalanche holds around $6.30, down roughly 75% over twelve months but keeping a base. Both are watched daily by active traders.

BlockDAG runs on a different clock. Its presale steps through 25 stages, starting at $0.002 and rising at each phase, so every day of delay can mean a higher entry. Buyers hunting the next crypto to explode and ranking the best crypto platform to invest in now are eyeing Stage 1 before it closes.

Hyperliquid: buybacks meet a consolidation

Hyperliquid trades around $54, down about 3.5% on the day, with a market cap near $12 billion and a fully diluted value close to $50 billion. The token set a record of $73.72 in mid-June and started 2026 near $25, so even after the recent cooldown it has had a strong year. Price is now consolidating between support around $50 and resistance near $57.

The fundamental backdrop stays active. Hyperliquid’s Assistance Fund keeps buying HYPE with protocol fees, and daily burns remove tokens from circulation, a structural demand loop tied to trading volume. On August 11, an institution purchased about $11 million in HYPE, and the protocol burned roughly $1 million in tokens the same day. The platform’s tokenized real-world asset activity has also scaled quickly. A daily close above $57 would open room toward the mid-$60s, while losing $50 would weaken the recovery.

Avalanche: basing after a heavy year

Avalanche holds around $6.30, down roughly 4% on the day and close to 75% over the past year, with a market cap near $2.7 billion, per CoinGecko and Coinpaprika data. The token sits far below its $144.96 record from late 2021, a reminder of how deep the multi-year drawdown has been for many Layer 1 tokens.

The near-term chart is mixed. Some analysts point to a weekly bullish engulfing candle as a sign buyers may be stepping back in, while shorter moving averages still slope down and signal caution. Support sits near $6.10 and resistance around $6.50, a tight band that has kept AVAX range-bound. Avalanche continues to run its subnet architecture and staking model, with delegators able to participate from 25 AVAX. This month, the story is base-building: holding support and waiting for the broader market to turn before any larger move.

BlockDAG: why Stage 1 is the cheapest it gets

The urgency around BlockDAG is mechanical, not emotional. The presale is built as a 25-stage ladder. Stage 1 sits at $0.002, and the price steps up automatically at each new phase toward a final stage of $0.05. That means Stage 1 is, by design, the lowest cost basis anyone will get across the entire presale.

The math is easy to follow. At $0.002, $250 buys 125,000 BDAG, and $1,000 secures 500,000. Once the presale advances, the same money buys fewer tokens at every step. There is no way to go back and buy at an earlier stage’s price, which is what gives the opening window its edge.

Demand is part of the pressure too. The project points to international buyers moving into the early stages, and each stage has a fixed allocation before the price moves up. When a stage fills, it closes, and the next, pricier one opens.

BlockDAG also enters this window with more than a promise. It reports a live blockchain, a live casino, miners shipping to users, the BlockDAGX exchange launching, and a Super App in development. That is the difference between a first mover paying $0.002 and a later buyer paying more for the same coin. For anyone scanning for the next crypto to explode, the takeaway is simple: Stage 1 offers the maximum token count per dollar, and it will not repeat. That structure is a big reason BlockDAG lands on many best crypto platform to invest in now shortlists.

Final Call

Hyperliquid and Avalanche sit at opposite ends of the momentum scale right now, one working through a buyback-driven consolidation near $54, the other basing quietly around $6.30 after a long slide. Both are established names with live networks, and both move with the broader market.

BlockDAG offers a different proposition: a fixed, rising price ladder where the first stage is provably the cheapest. At $0.002, the opening window rewards early buyers with the most tokens per dollar. Prices are project-set and carry risk, but the direction of travel across the 25 stages only goes up.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has dismissed allegations of escalating smuggling, revenue leakages, recruitment irregularities and manipulation of its succession process, saying the claims do not reflect the Service’s current operational and administrative realities.

The Service said its enforcement records, digital valuation systems and institutional oversight mechanisms had strengthened accountability while reducing opportunities for discretion and revenue losses.

The response followed a report by an online platform which alleged increased smuggling activities along the Seme, Idiroko, Ilaro, Ipokia and Igbeti-Kishi corridors in Ogun and Oyo states.

The report also raised concerns about the use of the ‘846’ Extended Procedure Code for vehicles with non-standard Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs), alleging that weaknesses in the valuation process were being exploited to under-declare imported vehicles at the Apapa, Tin Can Island and PTML Area Commands.

Responding to the allegations, Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada, National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, said the seizure records routinely presented by Customs Area Controllers contradicted claims of unchecked smuggling along the affected corridors.

Maiwada said the Service continued to enforce Federal Government restrictions and prohibitions while facilitating legitimate trade and ensuring that enforcement operations were sustained along the nation’s land borders.

He also explained that the 846 procedure was not an avenue for arbitrary valuation but a digital mechanism created for vehicles that cannot be processed through the standard VIN-based valuation system.

According to him, the category covers specialised heavy equipment, classic and vintage vehicles, as well as customised vehicles with non-standard VINs.

Maiwada said standard vehicles were automatically assessed through a system linked to global manufacturer databases, limiting human intervention in the valuation process.

For vehicles processed under the 846 procedure, he said, applications were subjected to secondary approval by designated Valuation Officers and Area Controllers.

He added that post-clearance audits were routinely conducted to detect discrepancies, with Demand Notices issued where duties had been under-collected and clearance licences suspended where infractions were established.

The Customs spokesman said revenue collections at the Apapa, Tin Can Island and PTML Area Commands had reached historic levels under the current digital oversight framework, disputing suggestions that the valuation system was facilitating widespread revenue leakage.

The Service also rejected allegations surrounding the recent recruitment of Assistant Superintendents of Customs II, saying the exercise was conducted under the supervision and authorisation of the Nigeria Customs Service Board.

It said the recruitment process, which included applications, computer-based testing, physical screening and final shortlisting, complied with the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, and Federal Character Commission guidelines.

According to the Service, the published list represents candidates granted provisional offers of appointment, with their appointments still subject to medical verification, background checks and formal acceptance.

On concerns over the recent leadership training programme for Deputy Comptrollers, the NCS said investment in human capital remained central to its efforts to modernise customs operations and strengthen intelligence and leadership capacity.

It explained that official training programmes and international exposures were funded through approved government budgetary allocations or formal bilateral technical assistance arrangements with international partners, including the World Customs Organisation.

The Service further rejected allegations that its leadership was manipulating succession in favour of particular groups of officers.

It said promotion and career progression were governed by the Public Service Rules, the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, and established procedures based on seniority, performance in promotion examinations and the availability of vacancies.

The NCS maintained that officers were not being denied promotion because of their recruitment years, adding that promotion exercises under the current leadership had become more regular, transparent and timely.

On calls for investigations by the Presidency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, National Assembly and Office of the National Security Adviser, the Service said it remained subject to statutory oversight and had nothing to fear from legitimate scrutiny.

It noted that its activities were subject to oversight by the Federal Ministry of Finance, National Assembly, Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and relevant anti-corruption agencies.

The Service said it routinely cooperated with parliamentary committees, the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the ONSA whenever required.

It maintained that any officer or stakeholder found to have engaged in corruption, revenue leakage or administrative misconduct would face disciplinary action and possible prosecution in accordance with the law.

The NCS said it remained open to investigations initiated by competent statutory or anti-corruption authorities, describing transparency, accountability and digital transformation as key elements of its ongoing reforms.

Leaders of faith across Nigeria have entered into a peace agreement seen at deepening interfaith narratives ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The peace agreement signed by over 50 Muslim and Christian leaders is a launchpad for a new body expected to promote religious harmony across Nigeria.

‘No hate speech, and no disrespect for other religious groups, no calling of people as infidels,’ John Praise Daniel, chairman, Northern Christian Religious Leaders’ Assembly, stated.

The former deputy national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), stated that he hoped the new initiative would curb divisive rhetoric by clerics.

The peace accord is coming months to the 2027 general elections on the back of the recent rhetoric by some religious leaders seen at playing up sentiments that tend to promote one faith above others.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is running on the same Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket that it fielded in 2023, which many considered anti Nigeria’s long-standing practice of balancing presidential tickets between the country’s two main faiths.

In November 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump called Nigeria a ‘disgraced country’ following a heightened religious divide and threatened military action over persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

Islamist insurgents such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have wrought havoc in the ?country for more than 15 years, killing thousands of people, but their attacks have been largely confined to the majority Muslim northeast.

While Christians have been killed, observers believe a vast majority of the victims have been Muslims.

Mohammad Al-Issa, Secretary-General, Muslim World League stated that there is a growing understanding among leaders of faith to promote peace by turning a new page.

‘We do not deny ?extremist ideas have harmed everyone; all have been affected by it.’

Barau Jibrin, Deputy Senate President, represented President Bola Tinubu at the signing ceremony, with three northern state governors also in attendance.

‘The government is determined to make sure that we remain united as a country, despite our differences, whatever the differences may be,’ Jibrin ?sttaed on the opening day of the two-day event.

Khalid Abubakar, ?secretary-general of Jama’atu Nasri Islam, said: ‘It is not a call to leave your own religion, but a cooperation of working together in harmony.’

Most people can tell you what they earn. Few can explain how their money is actually structured, including what’s protected, what’s growing, what’s exposed, and what happens to it if something goes wrong tomorrow.

Edition IV of the Wealth Within Reach webinar closes this gap. Three editions in, Wealth Within Reach participants have moved over ?150 million from intention into structured positions. This edition goes further. You leave with your own wealth architecture mapped: the instruments, the protection layer, and the transfer plan that turns a portfolio into a legacy rather than a balance.

This is not a lecture on saving more. It is a working session on structure and how to move from scattered accounts and good intentions to a plan that holds when something breaks.

Voices from across the BAS ecosystem

Yinka Adetuberu, CFA – Managing Director, BAS Capital, the Group’s investment banking arm, working with corporations, governments, and high-net-worth clients across global markets. On the foundation layer: where capital sits, what it earns, and why idle money is the most expensive asset you own.

Terfa Udendeh – Managing Director, BAS Wealth, which builds and preserves wealth for individuals, HNIs, and corporations over multi-decade horizons. On the growth layer: matching instruments to real goals rather than accumulating products with no job.

Zakari Aliyu Ahmadu – Managing Director, BAS Financial Services, an ethical asset manager offering Shariah-compliant investment and financing. On alignment: building an architecture that grows without compromising what it was built for.

Victor Kareem – Chief Operating Officer, BAS Finance, which provides asset-backed working capital to businesses across Africa, combining disciplined lending with modern financial infrastructure. On funding ambition: how businesses access capital without dismantling what they’ve already built.

Dr. Chidinma Ojukwu – Co-Founder of ALLY, a financial well-being platform that combines saving, investing, healthcare access, and protection in one place. On the base layer: why architectures fail from the bottom, not the top.

Abimbola Illebani – Managing Director, ALLY Microinsurance, which covers people traditionally priced out by underwriters. On protection: the single event that would force you to liquidate everything, and what it costs to make that impossible.

Guest speaker: Stanley C. Onuorah, aka ‘OnlineBanker.’ Economic analyst and FinTech advocate with over a decade in banking and finance. He built his audience by doing publicly what this session does in a closed room, translating how money and institutions work into language people can act on. He joins to read the macro conditions your architecture has to survive.

Moderated by Chidera Muoka, Group Chief Marketing Officer, BAS Group. A two-time editor-in-chief and former editor of a Nigerian national daily, she keeps the session a working conversation rather than a series of presentations by pressing each speaker from the general principle to the specific decision before moving into financial services strategy.

Built for people actively building something: a portfolio, a business, or a plan for their family.

100 seats. Registration closes on August 25th or when the room is full.