Category: Business Day

Osa Mbonu-Amadi, the Tourists Club International president has announced the establishment of two new tourism destinations in Badagry, Lagos State: the Tourists Club International Art Gallery and the Tourists Club International Forest Reserve.

The announcement was made on Sunday to commemorate World Tourism Day 2026, themed ‘Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism’. The global observance highlights the growing influence of digital platforms and artificial intelligence on how travellers discover destinations, plan journeys and experience tourism. El Salvador is hosting the official global celebration.

Mbonu-Amadi said the initiative represented the organisation’s practical response to the global theme.

‘The establishment of the Tourists Club International Art Gallery and the Tourists Club International Forest Reserve is our practical response to the 2026 World Tourism Day theme,’ Mbonu-Amadi said. ‘We are using documentation, digital visibility and responsible tourism development to ensure that Badagry’s artistic, historical and natural assets are not overlooked in the rapidly changing tourism landscape.’

He added that the destinations belonged not only to the club but also to the people of Badagry and future generations who deserved to experience, understand and protect them. According to the organisation, the initiative aims to document, preserve and promote destinations that might otherwise remain invisible in the digital tourism ecosystem.

The Tourists Club International Art Gallery is expected to become the first purpose-built art gallery in Badagry, an ancient town renowned for its historical, cultural and tourism significance. The gallery is being established primarily to provide a secure, appropriate home for important artworks acquired by the organisation in recent years.

The facility will serve as a platform for cultural preservation, artistic appreciation, tourism education and digital storytelling. Although many art galleries in Lagos are concentrated on Lagos Island and Victoria Island, the growth of virtual tourism and AI-assisted travel planning has altered traditional views on destination locations.

A destination can attract local and international attention from anywhere, provided it is properly documented, digitally accessible and connected to the wider tourism ecosystem. The organisation said it will document the gallery, its collections and the stories behind the artworks to make Badagry’s artistic heritage more discoverable to visitors, researchers and AI-powered travel platforms.

The Tourists Club International Forest Reserve is a small but important natural area in Badagry and the only surviving forested space in the host community. The forest provides a habitat for a colony of monkeys whose natural environment is increasingly threatened by unsustainable development.

The reserve reflects the organisation’s commitment to developing tourism in a manner that protects nature and respects host communities. The site offers opportunities for environmental education, nature-based tourism, biodiversity conservation and public awareness of the need to preserve Nigeria’s remaining urban and peri-urban forests.

‘Through appropriate documentation, responsible visitor management and digital promotion, the forest reserve can become part of a broader conversation about sustainable tourism and the protection of threatened natural habitats,’ the organisation said.

Travellers increasingly rely on digital platforms and AI tools to determine where to go, what to see and where to stay. The organisation stressed the importance of documenting destinations if they are to appear in results generated by digital travel tools.

The club is working to place Badagry’s cultural and natural assets within the digital information landscape through verified descriptions, visual documentation, location data and narratives reflecting the host community’s voice. The approach aligns with the central question of World Tourism Day 2026: who benefits from the digital transformation of tourism and who determines which destinations travellers see.

Beneficiaries should include Nigerian communities, artists, conservationists, guides, small tourism businesses and culture-bearers. The initiative will promote inclusive tourism narratives by giving visibility to emerging attractions and community-based projects, rather than focusing exclusively on established commercial destinations.

The organisation plans to unveil the art gallery and forest reserve to the public at a date to be announced. The unveiling forms part of continuing efforts to promote international tourism, peace and universal friendship, develop and preserve tourism sites, disseminate reliable information and encourage respect for host community heritage.

Mbonu-Amadi said the initiative would help place Badagry more firmly on Nigeria’s tourism map.

‘Artificial intelligence can only recommend destinations that have been properly documented and made visible,’ Mbonu-Amadi said. ‘By establishing these two sites, TCI is helping to place Badagry more firmly on Nigeria’s tourism map while promoting cultural preservation, environmental responsibility and community participation.’

While successive governments and administrations have battled to steady Nigeria’s economy, not much attention has been paid to the peace and unity of citizens.

All the ethnic nationalities that make up the entity called Nigeria have continued to live like sworn enemies. This lack of cohesion has retarded the growth and overall development of the country.

Ephraim Onoja, a retired banker, is at peace with himself and his family at 66 years old. Born on October 10, 1960, nine days after Nigeria’s independence, the Otukpo, Benue State-born Onoja, who worked at three banks before retiring four years ago, counts himself among ‘Independence Babies’.

With four children, seven grandchildren, a house for himself with rent from two tenants and steady dividends from his investments in stocks years ago, Onoja is very fulfilled at 66 and even hopes to clock 100 years in good health.

But that desirable reality seems to have eluded Nigeria as a country for 66 years. Many argue that if Nigeria is to be a man, he may not be able to proudly beat his chest to say I have done well at 66 years.

‘A man at 66 should, at least, be a grandfather. If Nigeria is, I don’t think it is a proud grandfather because both his children and grandchildren are not interested in its welfare; they squander its wealth, kill one another, love outsiders more than their own family, and allow religion and ethnicity to continue to divide them,’ Onoja said, while decrying that Nigeria is far less from the height it should have attained at 66 years.

For more disgruntled citizens, there is less to be desired from Nigeria at 66 years, considering the projections by world leaders at her independence that the country would take the world by storm in terms of development.

Comparing notes, Phillip Aigbe, a Nigerian lecturer at a Botswana university, decried that in 1960, Nigeria’s peers were countries like Brazil and India, which today have gone ahead to develop beyond global projections.

‘Can you compare the developmental strides in Brazil and India with what we have in Nigeria today? They are worlds apart because those other countries did not allow ethnic sentiments, religion and most importantly, corruption, to overshadow their collective interests,’ he said.

‘Let us be sincere, if Nigeria is where it should have been today, South Africans will not attack and force her citizens out of their country; rather, they would be the ones all over the states in Nigeria to enjoy our wealth and infrastructural feats’.

The fact that the reverse is the case today, according to him, is a reason for Nigerians to be sincere and say things the way they are, especially to the politicians, who keep running the country down and using religion and ethnicity to divide the people.

‘Let us be sincere. We may have achieved something, but Nigeria should not be proud at 66 years because there is little to show over six decades of nationhood,’ Aigbe insisted.

Chijioke Umelahi, an Abuja-based lawyer and a former lawmaker, also thinks along the same line. According to him, multi-racial and multi-religion countries like India, Brazil and even Rwanda enjoy peace, political and economic stability today because they have upheld their constitutions above every citizen, tribe, religion or region.

‘At 66, Nigeria has long abandoned its constitution; no federal character. The appointments in Buhari and Tinubu’s administrations attest to that. Some individuals are above the law today; the judiciary is not independent, and the electoral umpire does the bidding of the government that employs its leadership,’ he said.

The fact that the constitution, which guarantees protection, justice and equal rights for all citizens, is not upheld, Umelahi lamented that peace, unity and development will keep eluding Nigeria even at 100 years.

‘They keep saying one country, but the reality is nepotism. What is good in one part of the country is wrong in another. If the insecurity in the northern part of the country were in the southern part, it would have ended long ago because of unnecessary biases. You cannot beat a child and ask him not to cry, and that is why peace and unity are on holiday in the country even at 66 years.

‘The situation will continue unless we elect selfless, development- and people-oriented leaders, unlike the many bigots, corrupt and selfish ones occupying positions today’.

Speaking from a victim’s perspective, Yakubu Pam, a retired security officer, regretted that at 66 years, peace seems to be on holiday in Nigeria as terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other bad elements have continued to terrorise, loot, and kill innocent Nigerians.

‘I have lost five family members, both close and extended, to terror attacks in the last three years. As I speak, my sister, who lost her soldier husband to Boko Haram ambush, is staying with me in Abuja. Many have fled our villages to Jos township for safety. I am not talking about last year, I am talking about now and you say we should clap for Nigeria at 66 years. No,’ the disgruntled retired soldier said.

According to him, the Nigeria of today seems to have lost its military influence that was once applauded on the continent, which also guaranteed a bit of peace in the country because bad elements feared deadly reprisals from the Nigerian military then.

For Bem Hembafan, another security expert, peace is truly a scarce commodity in today’s Nigeria as the escalating insecurity has rendered many homeless, poorer and sadly leaving many dead.

‘I am from Benue State and we all know what the security situation is there. Despite the visits by Muhammadu Buhari, our late president, Bola Tinubu, the incumbent president, international organisations, civil society organisations, Amnesty and others, our people are still being killed daily in Benue,’ Hembafan lamented.

‘At 66, Nigeria leaves less to be desired for an average Benue citizen because we all have lost family members in the last 10 years and our leaders keep politicizing the situation, even those that call God’s name’.

According to Hembafan, whose company runs private security for luxury estates in Abuja, Kaduna and Nasarawa, if you call for the usual march pass for the Independence Day, parents will not release their children to march because it would be in mockery of the sad reality in the state.

‘Let the big men in Abuja release their children from their safe hideouts in UK schools and American universities and cities to come and march in Makurdi, Otukpo, Jos, Lantang, Kaduna and even Abuja. They will not because they know the reality, but are reluctant to deal with the situation head-on,’ Hembafan said further.

From a diaspora’s perspective, Samuel Onikoyi thinks that with the exodus of Nigerians, especially professionals from the country, even in the present administration, all is not well for the country at 66 years.

‘In the late 80s, many Nigerians were checking out of their country. That exodus has even worsened now, pointing to the harsh situations back home today, which have been driving many out to seek greener pastures,’ Onikoyi said.

‘I think, in an honest assessment, Nigeria has not done better at 66 because there are lots of lost grounds that could have been recovered by now. Rwanda has long recovered after her 20 years genocide.

‘Why is Nigeria still battling with corruption, ethnicity and religion when her peers are developing jets for space missions to hoist their flags, and inventing things through advanced technology.

‘If you consider how much the country has made since discovering crude oil and compare that with the development on ground today, you will simply ask the country to wake up from her long slumber. It has been too long a slumber, and our political class seems to care less that we lag among our peers globally’.

Going forward, he urged the leaders to, at least, ensure peace in the country, if infrastructural development is difficult in this high-technology age where people simply copy models like UAE, Qatar and Bahrain have done, copying European and American developmental models that are luring the world to their countries today.

‘At 66 years, the least the government can do for the citizens is to guarantee their peace and protection in their own country. The government should match their promises with action to ensure that criminal elements are flushed out for people to go about their businesses, especially farming in the hinterlands, peacefully. At 66, there should be no more killing of innocent citizens, no more ransom paid and those connected to all these arrested, prosecuted and no amnesty for them,’ he concluded.

However, the handlers of the government and politicians think otherwise. According to them, Nigeria has a lot to celebrate after 66 years of independence.

‘This is the only government that dared to release Nigeria from the strong grip of cabals. Petrol subsidy is gone; other reforms of this administration are working. The new tax law has guaranteed more funds for the government, and the states and local governments have more money to develop their areas,’ Olumide Ade-Sikiru, an Alimosho-based politician, said.

According to the former local council chairman, the present administration has pools of infrastructural development that should excite Nigeria at her 66th independence anniversary.

For Mahmud Udahe, a Kogi State politician, detractors only see the negative about the country, while leaving out the many positive things. ‘We have some constitutional victories to celebrate at 66, new infrastructure, some international partnerships that have started yielding fruits and no fuel scarcity,’ he said.

For Bob Otega, an economist, the fact that Nigeria is still united at 66 is something to celebrate.

‘I am not a supporter of this government, but the fact remains that Nigeria is still our only country. If we are still here as a country today, it means the nation is moving on despite its many challenges. I think that unity at 66 is worth celebrating,’ he said.

But Pam countered, arguing that the country is more divided now than in 1960 and even last week.

‘We are in campaigns for the 2027 elections. Have you heard what the politicians are saying, the sentiments out there that our man must continue, even if the country is sinking, that those being killed deserve to die because they are not our people or our religious sect, that some regions do not deserve attention for expressing their civil rights.

‘Bigots are at work again, telling their adherents who to vote for and why others are less Nigerians. Where is the unity when the president fears to bring closer other people outside his tribe? I don’t think Nigeria is united; it is just a makeshift arrangement until something permanent happens,’ he said.

Hembafan also sees no peace at 66, as the thousands of innocent people who have died since the insecurity challenge, which, according to him, the government is paying lip service to, bore witness to the strife and aggression in the country today.

‘The only period we enjoyed peace in the country was during the first republic between 1960 and 1965. Our trouble started with the 1966 coup, and since then, it has been from one coup to the other, from religious riots to social unrest, and today, from kidnappers to bandits and to terrorist attacks. The scars are visible in our lag in socio-economic development today,’ he noted.

As Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general elections, the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, government officials, and security experts have outlined measures aimed at strengthening election security, police professionalism, and public confidence in the democratic process.

The discussions formed the centrepiece of the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers (CARSPO 2026), held in Owerri, Imo State, under the theme ‘Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.’

The three-day conference, which opened on September 21, brought senior police officers and other stakeholders together to examine emerging security threats and develop operational strategies ahead of the 2027 polls.

At the conclusion of the retreat, Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu unveiled a six-pillar election-security framework anchored on intelligence, training, inter-agency coordination, technology, community partnership, and neutrality.

Disu directed senior officers to translate the resolutions of the conference into practical measures across commands and formations, stressing that the effectiveness of CARSPO would be measured by improvements in policing nationwide.

He ordered participants to adopt a ‘train-the-trainers’ model, cascading lessons from the conference to Deputy Commissioners of Police, Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers, tactical commanders, and other personnel.

The IGP also urged commands to strengthen operational planning, intelligence gathering, personnel training, and community engagement ahead of the elections.

Disu: Police must remain politically neutral

Disu placed political neutrality at the centre of the Force’s election-security responsibilities, stressing that the police must serve the Constitution, the law, and the Nigerian people rather than any political party, candidate, or interest group.

‘The loyalty of the Nigeria Police Force remains with the Constitution, the law, and the Nigerian people, not with any political party, candidate, or interest group,’ Disu said.

He also commended the quality of presentations at CARSPO, describing the conference as a ‘wonderful initiative.’

The IGP particularly highlighted contributions from retired senior police officers, including former IGP Usman Alkali Baba, whose experience managing the 2023 general elections provided participants with practical insights for addressing electoral security challenges in 2027.

Disu said the lectures were stimulating and educative, but stressed that the knowledge gained must translate into improved operational performance.

Uzodimma calls for voter-focused policing

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who hosted the conference at the Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu International Convention Centre, said police conduct would have a direct bearing on voter participation and public confidence in the electoral process.

Uzodimma urged the police to prioritise professionalism and combine local knowledge with intelligence-led policing to improve security outcomes.

‘Professionalism must remain a foremost priority to earn public confidence,’ he said. ‘As we approach 2027, the Police must ensure that their actions encourage civic participation rather than intimidate voters.’

The governor called for clearer operational guidelines for security checkpoints and suggested that political candidates undertake sworn commitments against electoral violence.

He also advocated decentralised policing structures, provided safeguards were established to prevent political misuse.

Uzodimma said hosting CARSPO reinforced Imo’s role as a venue for major national engagements on security and institutional development.

Stakeholders seek stronger election institutions

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, identified adequate funding as critical to providing the security and logistics required for the 2027 elections.

He noted that INEC’s responsibilities extend beyond conducting elections to voter registration and registration of political parties, while the Commission has statutory powers to request security deployment during elections and voter registration.

Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, urged closer cooperation between the police and INEC, saying effective policing support would be necessary for credible and transparent elections.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume at the opening ceremony, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting the police ahead of the 2027 polls.

He called for professionalism, impartiality, intelligence-led operations and stronger inter-agency coordination, while pledging continued support for police training, technology, operational logistics, welfare and institutional reforms.

Philips: CARSPO delivers security and economic value

For Shina Philips, Managing Director of Lenders Consult International, which coordinated CARSPO 2026, the conference represents both a national security platform and an economic opportunity for its host state.

Philips said the arrival of senior police officers, government officials, security experts, journalists and service providers generated activity across hotels, restaurants, transportation, telecommunications, retail and other businesses.

‘The conference should generate conversations about security, but its impact should extend into the economy. It should strengthen policing, but also strengthen partnerships,’ Philips said.

He said the value of hosting CARSPO should therefore be measured beyond the immediate cost of the conference to include its security, institutional, commercial and reputational benefits.

Imo is hosting CARSPO for the third time, according to Philips, giving the state another opportunity to showcase its capacity to host major national and international gatherings while strengthening relationships among security institutions, government and the private sector.

From conference resolutions to 2027 operations

At the closing ceremony in Owerri, Disu again charged senior officers to ensure that CARSPO’s resolutions do not remain confined to conference rooms.

The six-pillar framework, intelligence, training, inter-agency coordination, technology, community partnership, and neutrality, now provides the broad structure for the Force’s preparations for the 2027 elections.

The challenge, however, will be translating the strategy into consistent field operations across the country’s commands and formations as Nigeria moves closer to the polls.

What holds a continent together when its politics pulls apart? Africa has signed the treaty for a single market of 1.4 billion people. But treaties do not trade. People do. And people trade with those they can reach and those they trust.

That is the real test facing the African Continental Free Trade Area. Its success depends on stable corridors between the continent’s anchor economies, and the most significant of them, between Nigeria and South Africa, has also been the most politically sensitive. Tensions this year drew diplomatic engagement at the ECOWAS and African Union levels, a familiar pattern after similar strains in 2008, 2015 and 2019. Elsewhere, border closures and trade disagreements have shown how quickly politics can slow the movement of goods and people.

Yet beneath the diplomatic weather, a set of private and institutional initiatives is building the integration that summits alone cannot deliver.

The numbers tell part of the story. Bilateral trade between Nigeria and South Africa reached $2.16 billion in early 2026, and non-oil exports grew by over 14 percent year on year, driven by financial services, telecommunications and creative media. These flows were not created by political goodwill, and they have not disappeared in its absence.

Much of that resilience is being built deliberately. In August, the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce convened more than 300 senior executives under the theme ‘Building Local Content Together: 25 Years of Shared Growth.’ The panel featured founders of Nigerian firms such as CWG, BlackHouse Media and Seams and Stitches, each of which scaled into a continental enterprise through cross-border partnerships. Modupe Kadri, Chief Financial Officer of MTN Nigeria, captured the thinking: ‘Shared growth is not charity; it is not public relations. It is business logic.’

That logic extends to how Africans see one another. The Media Innovation Programme, a journalism fellowship run by the telecom operator with Pan-Atlantic University, has produced five cohorts, each with a South Africa component built in. This year’s 25 journalists, chosen from more than 4,500 applicants, joined a summit at the University of Johannesburg in early September on media and social cohesion, with a spotlight on Nigeria-South Africa relations.

Why does a journalism fellowship matter to trade? Because perception shapes markets. Professor Sifiso Mnisi of the University of Johannesburg noted that Nigerians and South Africans often form impressions of each other through news, social media and popular culture rather than direct contact. The fellows came away calling for joint investigations and editorial partnerships across African newsrooms, and the model has since gone continental, with a Pan-African edition welcoming 42 journalists and editors from 10 countries.

But a single market cannot run on goodwill alone. It needs connectivity, and the same group is laying foundations here too. It is an owner of the 2Africa subsea cable, a system of over 45,000 kilometres with 180 Tbps of capacity, the highest of any cable serving the continent. Through its infrastructure arm, Bayobab, it manages subsea and terrestrial wholesale capacity, and expects that subsea capacity to double heading into 2030. Every trader who closes a deal by phone, every payment that crosses a border digitally, rides on networks like these.

Physical connectivity matters just as much, and aviation shows the size of the task. At the ACI Africa Regional Conference in Abuja this week, the President of ACI Africa said the continent’s aviation sector requires about $32 billion in investment over the next ten years to close its gap, even as African aviation has grown three times faster than the sector elsewhere in the world. The demand is clearly there. A gap of that size will not be filled by governments alone. It will take private investors, cross-border operators and patient capital to build the routes, terminals and cargo links a single market needs.

Tourism is receiving the same attention. On 2 September, South Africa Tourism Connect brought tourism authorities, South African Airways, the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce and trade bodies together at Heritage Place in Lagos, committing jointly to reposition the corridor for leisure, business, cultural and family travel.

Pan-African finance is reinforcing the effort. In May, the AfCFTA Secretariat and Ecobank Group signed an agreement linking the Secretariat’s mandate to Ecobank’s continental network and its $3 billion trade finance commitment, with a focus on small businesses, women-led enterprises and young entrepreneurs. And in September, the Secretariat signed an agreement to develop a $5.17 billion Digital Trade Corridor targeting the fragmented payment and logistics systems that still make it cheaper for some African businesses to trade with Europe than with their neighbours.

Put together, these efforts point to a shift in how African integration happens. Governments set the framework, and the ECOWAS compact signed in Freetown commits member states to rebuilding trust between citizens and public institutions. But the daily work of integration is increasingly done by companies, chambers, universities, newsrooms, networks and airlines that have found practical reasons to keep working together.

That is the quiet power of these initiatives. They do not wait for the next summit. They build relationships and infrastructure that continue regardless of the headlines.

The question for Africa is no longer whether its trade future can survive political tension. It is whether enough bridges, in the air, over the wires and between people, can be built beneath the politics to carry the continent forward. On the evidence so far, the builders are already at work.

Nigeria’s total public debt stock rose to N166.79 trillion as of June 30, 2026, reflecting a N14.39 trillion increase within one year, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The latest public debt portfolio report released by the DMO showed that the debt stock increased by 9.4 percent from N152.4 trillion recorded at the end of June 2025.

The figure also represents a N7.44 trillion, or 4.7 percent, increase compared with the N159.35 trillion recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

The latest increase was driven largely by domestic borrowing, which accounted for more than half of the country’s total debt stock.

The DMO put Nigeria’s domestic debt at N91.59 trillion as of June 30, representing 54.91 percent of the total public debt. External debt stood at N75.2 trillion, accounting for the remaining 45.09 percent.

Domestic debt increased by N11.04 trillion, or 13.7 percent, from N80.55 trillion recorded in June 2025.

External debt also rose by N3.35 trillion, representing a 4.7 percent increase from N71.85 trillion recorded during the same period.

Federal government remains largest debtor

The Federal Government remained the largest debtor, accounting for N152.77 trillion of the total debt stock. Of this amount, N86.99 trillion was domestic debt, while N65.77 trillion was external debt.

States and the Federal Capital Territory accounted for the remaining N14.01 trillion. Their debt comprised N4.59 trillion in domestic obligations and N9.42 trillion in external debt.

The DMO also reported that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at $120.93 billion as of June 30, 2026, compared with $99.66 billion a year earlier.

The dollar value reflects both changes in the debt stock and the exchange rate used in converting the external component into naira.

According to the debt office, the Central Bank of Nigeria official exchange rate of N1,379 to the dollar as of June 30, 2026, was used to convert the external debt to naira.

The latest figures bring renewed focus to the structure of Nigeria’s borrowing, with domestic obligations now accounting for more than half of the country’s total public debt.

At about 3am on Wednesday, Uzoma Chukwu woke up to a frightening sight.

Water had entered his home and was rapidly rising.

By the time daylight came, the flood had submerged houses, destroyed household belongings and cut off movement in parts of Akaeze and neighbouring communities in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

For Chukwu and scores of other residents, there was little time to salvage their belongings.

‘Since I was born, I have never experienced this type of flood,’ one of the residents said, describing the volume of water as unprecedented in the community.

The flood, which followed heavy rainfall that began on Tuesday, has displaced no fewer than 134 families, according to an assessment by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State.

Rice, yam, potato and other farmlands were submerged, while houses, furniture, bedding, phones and other household possessions were either damaged or completely swept away.

At Amaegbu Umobo, Akaeze, community Chinyere Irem, a farmer said more than 54 victims had already been identified, with several families left without habitable homes.

Among them is Ochude Chukwu, whose residence, popularly known as Udensi House, was pulled down by the flood.

His rice farm and other family property were also destroyed.

With the house no longer habitable, Chukwu said he had been forced to relocate with his wife and three children.

‘I am calling on the government to come and help us and rescue my family from this situation,’ he pleaded.

For Irem, the flood has also brought substantial economic losses.

He said the water destroyed his wife’s belongings, bed, chairs and telephone, while his rice, potato and other crops were also submerged.

Irem, a farmer, estimated his losses at between N8 million and N20 million, stressing that the damage to his farmland was particularly devastating.

‘My rice, yam, my potato, everything was covered by the water,’ he said, appealing to the government for assistance.

The impact was not limited to homes and farms.

Okechukwu Uwaezioke said the flood paralysed vehicular and human movement around Ivo Agbaleka and adjoining communities, while the Ivo Market was also inundated.

‘Even in the market, water entered inside. People from other villages could not come to the market. We need government help,’ he said.

Okpe Favour Chidinma said more than 20 houses were affected in her community, forcing some displaced families to seek alternative accommodation.

The affected communities include Amaegbu Umobo, Umuewodo Ndiachi Umuobo Akaeze and Umuezaka Ezeukwu Akaeze, among others.

As residents count their losses, the immediate response has come from the opposition PDP, whose Chukwuma Igwe, the state chairman, led a delegation to the affected communities on Thursday.

Igwe said Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, the party’s 2027 governorship candidate, had released N5 million for immediate assistance to victims.

According to him, N2 million would be deployed to support affected residents in Akaeze, while the remaining N3 million would be used in other communities after further assessment.

He said the party had so far documented about 134 affected families in Akaeze, with the figure expected to increase as assessments continue in other locations.

‘My people, I’m not happy. I don’t have to hide it. It’s a thing of tears that this kind of thing can happen at this time,’ Igwe said.

But he stressed that the party’s intervention could only provide temporary relief, insisting that the major responsibility for disaster response rested with government.

‘We are not in government yet. Our own is to condole with you and sympathise with you. The main intervention is supposed to come from the government,’ he said.

Igwe said the party would also draw the attention of the Federal Government and relevant agencies, including the National Emergency Management Agency, to the plight of the affected residents.

Darlington Onwe, PDP spokesman in Ebonyi, described the incident as a major humanitarian disaster, saying the scale of the destruction required more than immediate relief.

According to him, affected families would need support to rebuild their homes, restore their agricultural livelihoods and recover from the economic losses caused by the disaster.

Felix Ogbonna Igboke, the PDP House of Representatives candidate for Ohanivo Federal Constituency, who was part of the delegation, said the visit was undertaken on Odii’s directive to assess the extent of the damage and provide immediate assistance.

For the residents, however, relief from the immediate hardship is only one part of the problem.

With farms destroyed and homes rendered uninhabitable, many fear that the consequences of the flood will extend beyond the initial disaster.

They are therefore calling on the Ebonyi and Federal governments to provide relief materials and emergency assistance, while undertaking a technical assessment of the affected communities to determine what is driving the flooding.

For families now sleeping outside their homes or seeking temporary accommodation, the appeal is straightforward: they want help to survive the immediate crisis and measures that will prevent them from facing the same disaster again.

FoodCo Nigeria Limited, an indigenous diversified consumer goods firm, has expanded its neighbourhood retail model as Nigerian consumers prioritise convenience and proximity when shopping for everyday goods, Ade Sun-Basorun, the company’s CEO, said.

Speaking at the opening of the company’s new neighbourhood store in Awakan, Ojoo, Ibadan, Sun-Basorun said modern retailers must bring quality products and services closer to consumers.

‘Neighbourhood retail is becoming increasingly important to the future of modern retail in Nigeria because consumers are not only asking what they can buy, but also how easily they can access it,’ he said.

The Awakan outlet brings FoodCo’s network to 24 stores across Oyo, Lagos and Ogun states.

The store combines the company’s supermarket and quick-service restaurant offerings, providing groceries, household products, fresh food, a grill house and an in-store bakery.

Sun-Basorun said the expansion was driven by research into local consumer needs rather than simply increasing the company’s store count.

The opening forms part of FoodCo’s continued expansion across South-West Nigeria as organised retailers increasingly adopt convenience-led formats.

Founded in 1982, FoodCo operates across retail, quick-service restaurants, manufacturing and entertainment, and employs more than 2,000 people.

Nigeria’s persistent hydrocarbon metering and calibration deficiencies responsible for billions of dollars in lost state revenues will take centre stage at the 2026 Nigeria Hydrocarbon Measurement Conference (NiHMEC), scheduled for October 4 to 8 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

This is as data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) highlights that approximately 40 per cent of apparent crude oil losses stem directly from measurement inaccuracies and faulty metering infrastructure, rather than physical theft.

The commission’s estimate indicated that resolving these technical discrepancies could salvage up to $1 billion annually for the nation’s coffers.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Sunday Kanshio, managing partner of Fleissen Events and coordinator of the NiHMEC Technical Advisory Committee, emphasised that precise measurement is central to revenue protection and operational efficiency across the energy value chain.

‘Accurate measurement of oil and gas is critical to maximizing production, ensuring proper accounting, and protecting government revenue,’ Kanshio said. ‘Without measurement, the industry is essentially operating blind.’

He noted that fiscal metering at export terminals remains the most critical node in the system, as it forms the baseline for calculating state royalties and taxes. Proper calibration is equally vital upstream, where flow stations process commingled production from multiple fields, requiring accurate field-level allocation to satisfy tax compliance standards.

Kanshio added that the reliability of these measurement systems hinges on two primary variables: the sophistication of the technology deployed and the technical competence of the personnel operating it.

He said, ‘In all these phases, measurement is the most critical part. Without measurements of oil and gas quantities, it is almost like we are working blind.

‘We need to know the quantity, and that requires measurement. The next phase is when the oil flows to the flow station if it is onshore or to an FPSO.’

‘The annual NiHMEC provides a platform for industry stakeholders to review progress, identify emerging challenges and develop solutions for improving hydrocarbon measurement practices.’

NiHMEC 2026 aims to gather key industry operators, regulators, and technology providers to assess technical progress, address structural bottlenecks, and establish standardised measurement frameworks across the sector.

For more than 500 million Africans, identity remains a privilege, not a right. On National ID Day 2026, Seamfix has called on governments, regulators and businesses to close that gap through trusted identity systems that let every person access essential services securely and participate fully in the digital economy.

The company made the call following its participation at the 8th National Day of Identity, held on September 16, 2026, and organised by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

This year’s theme, ‘My Identity, My Shadow,’ highlights the importance of ensuring that every person has an identity that can be securely recognised wherever it is required, including when opening a bank account, receiving healthcare, registering a mobile line, accessing social support or using government services.

The 500 million figure, drawn from World Bank estimates, leaves hundreds of millions unable to access these services. For Seamfix, closing that gap is central to its work: identity is a right, not a privilege, and trusted infrastructure is what makes that right usable in practice.

For 19 years, Seamfix has built and supported identity and digital trust infrastructure across Africa, contributing to the enrollment of over 130 million citizens into Nigeria’s National Identity database as one of NIMC’s trusted infrastructure partners, digitising the Republic of Benin’s passport renewal process, and delivering SIM registration compliance, identity verification, and digital registries for government and enterprise use, work that has supported over 350 million identities processed across the continent.

Chimezie Emewulu, Group Chief Executive Officer of Seamfix, said:

‘Nearly two decades of building identity infrastructure across Africa has taught us what happens when identity works, and what it costs when it doesn’t.

Africa’s prosperity depends on people being able to participate fully in the economy and society, which is why we believe identity should be a right, not a privilege, and why we will keep building the systems that make that right real. That work doesn’t stop with governments, it means partnering with every institution willing to put trust and access first.’

Across Africa, significant progress has been made in expanding access to identity, but fragmented databases, inconsistent records, limited interoperability and repeated verification requirements continue to affect service delivery in many markets, increasing onboarding costs, delaying access to essential services, and making it difficult for people to use a trusted identity across institutions. Remote and underserved communities often face the greatest difficulty enrolling or accessing linked services.

Speaking at the event, Frank Atube, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Seamfix, said: ‘Fragmentation isn’t about how many times someone has to verify who they are, it’s about whether the systems doing that verifying can trust each other.

‘For those inside the system, it means starting over every time because those systems don’t talk to each other, instead of trusting what’s already been confirmed. For millions of others, it means no recognised identity at all. Both are solved the same way: systems that verify people accurately, protect their data, and reach the communities current infrastructure struggles to reach. That is the real priority, not just connecting what already exists, but building access for everyone else.’

Privacy and public trust must remain central as identity systems become more connected, with individuals given clear information about how their data is collected, shared and protected, and appropriate control over its use.

Seamfix believes government agencies, regulators and private-sector organisations must continue to collaborate to connect their systems, strengthen data protection and extend identity-enabled services to underserved communities.

National ID Day provides an opportunity to recognise Nigeria’s progress and renew the commitment to identity systems that serve people reliably throughout their lives. For Seamfix, that means continuing to build the infrastructure that ensures identity is a right every person can exercise, not one reserved for those the system finds easiest to reach.

For decades, a persistent paradox has defined Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape: a nation blessed with vast arable land, diverse climatic zones, and a burgeoning youth population continues to spend trillions of naira annually importing basic food staples.

At the heart of this challenge lies a deep-seated perception problem. For generations of young Nigerians, agriculture has been viewed not as a high-tech, profitable enterprise, but as an arduous, backbreaking punishment-a career of last resort reserved for those who failed to secure white-collar opportunities.

In Lagos recently, an ambitious national movement set out to dismantle that narrative at its root: the classroom.

Organized by Paradise Dynamic Farms Limited in collaboration with the Project Rebirth team, the inaugural National Agricultural Teachers Summit convened thousands of Agricultural Science educators in Lagos, alongside thousands more participating simultaneously from designated viewing centers across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The historic gathering which also featured an official Guinness World Records attempt for the largest attendance at an agricultural awareness summit in a single day, was anchored on a simple premise: if Nigeria is to build a sustainable food system, it must first revolutionize how agriculture is taught.

The Classroom as the Catalyst for Change

Setting the tone for the summit, Erica Okorodudu, the Executive Director, at Paradise Dynamic Farms Limited and Convener of the event, confronted the central question driving the initiative: ‘If agriculture is so important to the future of Nigeria, are we preparing the generation that will inherit it?’

Tracing the roots of public perception back to primary and secondary school classrooms, Okorodudu noted that while Agricultural Science is a standard subject, the realities of modern, tech-driven agribusiness rarely make it past the school gate.

‘We have dedicated teachers doing their best, sometimes without adequate laboratories, demonstration farms, equipment, or exposure to the technologies transforming agriculture around the world,’ Okorodudu said in her opening address. ‘Students learn about agriculture without always having the opportunity to touch the soil, operate a production system, monitor a crop, manage livestock, analyze data, or experience agriculture as a business.’

She emphasised that changing an entire generation’s outlook requires empowering the educators who guide them. ‘The future of Nigerian agriculture will be written in our classrooms before it is ever written in our fields,’ she asserted, describing teachers as ‘multipliers’ whose influence cascades from students to families, communities, and ultimately the national economy.

Central to the summit’s vision is transforming static school farms into active, commercial ‘living laboratories.’

Under this model, school demonstration farms will incorporate protected cultivation, drip irrigation, hydroponics, aquaculture, and climate-smart digital tools.

The goal, Okorodudu emphasised, is not merely to graduate students who understand agricultural theory, but to raise a generation capable of building scalable agribusinesses, driving processing and logistics, and guaranteeing national food security.

Shifting Mindsets: From Subsistence Farming to High-Tech Enterprise

Echoing this vision, Abiodun Moses Adeyeye, a soil fertility and plant nutrition expert from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), argued that modernizing agriculture requires shattering obsolete stereotypes.

‘The old perspective looks at agriculture as an occupation that is not worthwhile-that if you study it in the university, you don’t have ‘something upstairs’ or don’t know science,’ Adeyeye observed.

‘In the past, people believed studying agriculture meant using hoes and cutlasses for the rest of your life. But agriculture is science, technology, and business put together. It incorporates mathematics, physics, and chemistry.’

Adeyeye highlighted how modern advancements, such as drone technology, precision irrigation, and screenhouse farming are yielding massive economic returns for young entrepreneurs. Pointing to the country’s economic drain, he decried Nigeria’s heavy reliance on food imports, noting that the country imports approximately 98 percent of the wheat it consumes-a stark contrast to nations like Brazil, which produces 60 percent of its wheat locally.

‘If we educate these children from the onset that we can produce these commodities locally using modern science, we can stem the trillions of Naira leaving this country every year,’ Adeyeye said. ‘When students realize that agriculture uses cutting-edge technology and offers a direct path to wealth creation, they will actively choose it.’

Agriculture as a Scalable Business Model

Adding a practical commercial perspective during the panel sessions, Henry Nnanna, an agricultural engineer, real estate consultant, and lead panel coordinator, highlighted how historical shifts derailed Nigeria’s agricultural trajectory.

‘Agriculture used to support 70 percent of our workforce before the discovery of oil,’ Nnanna noted. ‘When oil came, we neglected agriculture. And because we haven’t been practicing it the appropriate, modern way, the next generation failed to connect with it.’

Nnanna urged educators to teach students the micro-business opportunities embedded within the agricultural value chain.

He demonstrated how accessible, low-capital ventures, such as container farming in urban backyards, fast-cycle crops like cucumbers that mature in 45 days, or structured poultry production using point-of-lay birds-can generate immediate cash flow and support structured loan repayments.

‘Agriculture is a business,’ Nnanna emphasized. ‘It all depends on where you focus. By bringing together experts across technology, entrepreneurship, academia, and government, this summit is hitting the right chord to ensure policy recommendations translate into actionable commercial practices.’

He added that the communique generated from the summit would be aggressively publicized and delivered directly to federal and state policymakers to ensure sustained momentum.

Policy Integration and Institutional Endorsement

The drive to embed modern agricultural practices into school curricula gained major institutional backing from the Committee of States’ Commissioners of Education in Nigeria (COSCEN).

Speaking on behalf of the committee, Halima Sule Alhassan (representing COSCEN Chairman, Lawal Olalekan Olohungbebe) commended the organizers for prioritizing teacher welfare, capacity building, and practical recognition.

Alhassan revealed that COSCEN, which works in direct collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) across all 36 states and the FCT, provides a ready-made platform to scale successful agricultural education models nationwide.

‘We organize monthly webinars for all Honorable Commissioners of Education to share best practices and successful state models,’ Alhassan explained. ‘If a state like Lagos or Akwa Ibom develops a highly successful school farm or agricultural curriculum model, that experience is shared across the platform.’

Following the success of the summit, Alhassan confirmed plans to table the challenges and solutions raised by the teachers directly before the national committee.

‘From my report, we can bring these actionable insights to the 36 State Commissioners and the FCT. Where necessary, we can facilitate the documentation and recommendation of these modern agricultural models to be formally integrated into national educational policy through bodies like the Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCCE) and the National Council on Education (NCE).’

A National Movement Underway

As the inaugural summit concluded, the overarching message resonated clearly across the main hall in Lagos and the virtual viewing centers nationwide: Nigeria’s agricultural transformation cannot be achieved in isolation on rural farms; it must be cultivated within the educational ecosystem.

By equipping Agricultural Science teachers with modern techniques, institutional policy support, and an enterprise-driven mindset, the summit laid the groundwork for a structural shift-one that positions agriculture not as a remnant of the past, but as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s technological and economic future.