Category: Business Day

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that the leadership of the party is currently studying the results of the just-concluded governorship election in each of the 332 wards across the state with a view to exploring further the allowed constitutional window of opportunity in this regard.

The party, in a statement made available to journalists on Monday in Osogbo by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said, ‘We are not unaware of the fact that an election is a process which begins at the registration of the voters through the primary election to the election proper which extends to the Tribunal, the Appeal Court and terminates at the Supreme Court.’

According to him, ‘an election cannot be said to have been concluded without having explored all these constitutionally allowed legal opportunities to correct anomalies observed in the process of the election as enshrined in the Electoral Act 2026 as amended.’

Olabisi said further, ‘We commend the steadfastness, sagacity and loyalty of the numerous members and supporters of our party for their contributions in getting to this juncture in the political history of the state.

‘We make it bold to state categorically that as a progressive party which is founded on the unalloyed principle of the rule of law, fairness and justice, we shall not hesitate without further delay to explore the window allowed by the extant Electoral Act after the due consultation with the team of our lawyers based on their professional advice.

‘The new development is a beauty of democracy with reference to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s declared governorship election results in the state, which would not propel us to deviate from embracing the culture of the rule of law.

‘As a result of the foregoing, we are imploring our ever loyal members and supporters to remain cool and calm while they carry on with their businesses and refuse to respond to any provocative action or inaction from any of the members of the ruling party across the state.

‘It is necessary to assure our members and supporters not to despair about the current situation and have it in mind that it is not over until it is over.

‘While we are appealing to the Nigeria Police Force to come to the aid and rescue of our members and supporters who are being needlessly molested by the ruling party, we are assuring them that we won’t have any cause or reason to abandon them.

‘The current situation in the political history of the state is a passing phase which will soon become part of history as justice shall be done accordingly.’

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says 737,073 people are internally displaced in Nigeria’s North-West, with about 620,000 (84%) displaced by banditry and kidnapping.

Sharon Dimanche, IOM Chief of Mission, disclosed this at a press briefing in Katsina on Friday, noting that Katsina has 180,938 IDPs and Zamfara 261,995, while about 147,000 returnees have been recorded across the region, including over 37,000 in Katsina.

She warned that return does not automatically mean safety, stressing that displaced persons must be able to rebuild their lives with security, livelihoods, and basic services.

She said, ‘Here in Katsina, we are talking about almost 181,000 people who are displaced. In neighbouring Zamfara, the figure is over 261,000. At the same time, IOM recorded almost 147,000 returnees across the North-West, including more than 37,000 here in Katsina.

‘Some people are being displaced, but some are also trying to return home. And the question is not simply, have they really returned? For me, the real question is, can they stay once they return? Can they rebuild their lives? Can they feel safe again?

‘Because many of you here represent national media networks, I want to make one point very clear: what is happening in the North-West is not simply a regional issue. It is a national issue. It affects food production and livelihoods. It affects education and access to basic services. It also affects local economies and social cohesion and, ultimately, Nigeria’s wider stability and development.’

Dimanche said displacement in the region is driven mainly by insecurity, though climate shocks are also increasing. Between January 2025 and January 2026, over 138,000 people were displaced in Katsina, with about 72,000 due to floods and storms and nearly 60,000 from banditry and kidnapping.

She added that displacement affects livelihoods, education, and social stability, urging stronger prevention through early warning systems and peacebuilding. She also noted a slight decline in IDPs and a rise in returns across the North-West and North-Central regions.

Jean Nahesi, IOM Head of Sub-Office, said the figures were drawn from the organisation’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), adding that 74% of IDP sites need shelter and 89% lack adequate sanitation.

He said displacement had worsened food insecurity, weakened livelihoods, and strained host communities.

Through the EU-supported CPCRR programme, IOM has set up 80 peace committees, trained 1,700 stakeholders, and monitored transhumance movements involving over 2,400 herders and 60,000 livestock.

Latest figures show Zamfara (261,995) has the highest number of IDPs, followed by Katsina (180,938), Sokoto (176,099), Kaduna (107,580), and Kano (10,461), highlighting the scale of the crisis in the North-West.

At night, when traffic thins and the streets become quieter, some parts of Lagos acquire a different set of workers.

They move through refuse dumps, construction sites, railway corridors and major roads, searching for anything that can be sold as scrap metal. A discarded nail is worth picking. A piece of iron is worth carrying. A section of railing, a manhole cover, a cable or a metal reinforcement buried inside concrete can become a source of income.

From scavenging to vandalism

For some young people living on the margins of Nigeria’s expanding cities, scrap metal collection provides a source of income. But the line between scavenging and vandalism has increasingly become blurred.

Public infrastructure has become an attractive target because its metal components can be sold quickly.

Railway infrastructure has been particularly vulnerable. In March 2026, the Nigerian Railway Corporation arrested a suspected track vandal in Lagos after he was allegedly found with 15 pandrol clips and iron fasteners believed to have been removed from the railway corridor at Alagomeji.

The NRC warned that removing such components could compromise track stability and increase the risk of derailment.

In April, the Nigeria Police Force announced the arrest of two suspects in Nasarawa State and the recovery of about 60 tonnes of vandalised railway tracks and sleepers, valued at more than N400 million.

In July, three suspected members of a railway vandalism syndicate were arrested in Oyo State, with stolen rail tracks estimated at about N200 million recovered.

These cases point to an organised market rather than isolated acts of opportunistic theft.

Lagos feels the pressure

The problem is particularly visible in Lagos, where rapid urbanisation has placed enormous pressure on infrastructure.

The state government recently arrested suspects allegedly chipping away concrete from the newly constructed Festac-Alakija Bridge to steal iron rods, steel reinforcements and cables.

At Kosofe Bus Stop around Mile 12, thieves were also arrested after allegedly removing structural iron components from concrete road barriers.

Along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, newly established Coastal Highway Guards have arrested suspected thieves allegedly cutting sections of the road’s clear-view fence and barbed wires.

The attacks are happening even as governments spend billions of naira constructing new roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure.

For every damaged structure, the government must spend again on repairs or replacement. That means vandalism deepens the infrastructure deficit it is already costing the government to address.

When the streets become dangerous

The consequences are not limited to government budgets.

A missing manhole cover can become a death trap, particularly during heavy rainfall when floodwater hides the opening.

Damaged road barriers and missing railings increase risks for motorists and pedestrians, while vandalised railway components can threaten the safety of passengers.

The problem is therefore not simply about stolen property. It is a public safety issue. It also contributes to the proliferation of informal settlements.

Along major highways in Lagos, shanties and makeshift structures have become increasingly common. During a recent enforcement exercise along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, environmental officials uncovered a makeshift clinic operating from a roadside shanty around Barracks Bus Stop, with a patient reportedly receiving treatment there.

The discovery demonstrates how informal activities can become entrenched when public spaces are poorly controlled.

The touting economy

Street miscreants are also increasingly associated with harassment and extortion.

Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos State deputy governor, recently described the practice of individuals stopping luxury vehicles along the Lekki-Epe Expressway as criminal.

‘That is criminal and therefore, we will not allow it. We will take a lot of them off the streets,’ he said during an appearance on Nigerian Info.

Hamzat said surveillance cameras along the road had helped security agencies identify suspects and that some had already been arrested.

The controversy intensified after a video circulated on X showing street urchins and touts allegedly harassing celebrities for money.

Tokunbo Wahab, Lagos commissioner for Environment, said the state had repeatedly dislodged such groups but argued that public patronage was helping them return.

‘The State Government has consistently apprehended and dislodged these street urchins from various locations across the state,’ Wahab said.

He added that financial support from ‘some influencers, celebrities, and members of the public’ could encourage the groups to view the activity as a livelihood.

Poverty or a breakdown of control?

Poverty and unemployment are often cited as major drivers of street crime and scavenging.

Nigeria’s major cities attract young people from across the country looking for jobs and opportunities. Many arrive without stable accommodation or employment and are absorbed into informal economic networks.

Some observers argue that Lagos, as the country’s commercial hub, is carrying a disproportionate burden created by population movement from other states.

But poverty alone does not explain infrastructure vandalism. The existence of buyers for stolen materials is equally important.

A vandal can only profit if somebody is willing to purchase the stolen metal. This makes scrap dealers, middlemen and transporters an important part of the enforcement chain.

Arresting the person caught removing a railway component may not solve the problem if the market waiting for the stolen material remains intact.

Punishment versus rehabilitation

There are growing calls for a combination of enforcement and rehabilitation.

An X user, Uche Rochas, recently suggested that Lagos establish a large correctional rehabilitation centre where offenders could receive vocational training and engage in farming while serving their sentences.

He also called for continuous monitoring and regular reshuffling of law enforcement personnel to reduce compromise.

Wahab, however, pushed back against the suggestion, arguing that Lagos could end up bearing the cost of problems originating elsewhere.

‘Do well to propose this to other state governors so they can fund it, as we would most likely be inheriting their problems. Thank you!’ he said.

The exchange captures one of the central difficulties in tackling street crime in Lagos: the state must enforce its laws while managing a population that is constantly expanding through migration.

Protecting what Nigeria builds

Nigeria’s infrastructure challenge is usually discussed in terms of what the country needs to build. Increasingly, attention must also be paid to what it needs to protect.

Government can construct more roads, bridges and railway lines, but if their components are routinely stolen, the country will continue spending money replacing what it has already paid for.

A comprehensive response would require stronger surveillance of vulnerable infrastructure, faster prosecution of offenders, tighter controls around the scrap-metal trade and intelligence-led operations targeting buyers and middlemen.

Employment and vocational programmes also have a role, particularly for young people who depend on informal scavenging for survival. But rehabilitation cannot replace enforcement.

The government must make it clear that stealing a manhole cover, railway component or bridge reinforcement is not petty theft. It can endanger lives and impose additional costs on millions of Nigerians.

Nigeria is already struggling to close its infrastructure gap. Allowing vandals to dismantle what has been built risks turning that deficit into a permanent cycle: build, vandalise, repair and build again.

When the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) set out to build a competition that would take raw innovations from university laboratories and startup garages and turn them into technologies that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector could actually buy, few expected it to produce results this quickly.

Two days of final-round judging later, the answer was on the stage at NCDMB Tower in Yenagoa: three winning innovations, fifteen seasoned finalists, and a room full of people who had just watched something that does not happen often enough in Nigeria – a promise kept.

The Tech-Innovation Challenge (TIC) 2026, a flagship programme of NCDMB’s Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate implemented by Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre Ltd (EICL), concluded its maiden edition on 13 August 2026. More than a hundred applications. Thirty online pitches.

Fifteen finalists. Five months of mentorship, financial modelling, intellectual property clinics, operator engagement coaching, and a five-day physical bootcamp. Then two days of competitive judging. And at the end of it, three technologies that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector should be paying close attention to.

‘The TIC is not about discovering talent that did not exist before. It is about creating the conditions under which talent that already exists can become something the oil and gas industry can actually use,’ Chika Chinwah, CEO, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre Ltd (EICL) said.

The Challenge Behind the Challenge

The TIC was designed to solve a problem that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector has acknowledged for decades without adequately addressing: the gap between what Nigerian engineers and scientists can build and what Nigerian operators are willing to buy.

The programme, which ran from late 2025 through August 2026, was structured in four competitive stages precisely to close that gap – not by lowering the bar for what constitutes a deployable innovation, but by raising the readiness of the innovations themselves.

Thirty teams pitched online between 30 June and 2 July 2026 before a panel of six judges. Fifteen were selected as finalists. Over the following months, those fifteen teams went through sixty-three hours of expert mentorship, eleven structured curriculum sessions covering everything from IP law to financial modelling, and a five-day bootcamp at NCDMB Tower in Yenagoa.

By the time they took the stage for the Stage 4 Final Competition on 12 August, they were, as one observer put it, measurably different innovators from the ones who had submitted applications eight months earlier.

What the Officials Said – and Meant

The ceremony opened with a Welcome Address by Silas Omomehin Ajimijaye, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at NCDMB. He did not mince words. The innovations on display, he said, were not academic exercises – they were responses to documented operational problems that Nigerian operators are currently paying foreign companies to solve.

‘For too long, the conversation around Nigerian Content has been dominated by ownership percentages and workforce numbers. What the TIC has demonstrated is that Nigerian Content must also mean Nigerian technology – innovations conceived, developed, and deployed by Nigerians to solve Nigerian problems. The innovations in this room today belong in the field, not in the laboratory,’ Silas Omomehin Ajimijaye, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, NCDMB

The Keynote Address was delivered by Abdulmalik Halilu, Director of Corporate Services and Chairman of the TIC 2026 Steering Committee, who represented Executive Secretary Felix Omatsola Ogbe.

Halilu’s message to Nigeria’s operators was direct: stop treating indigenous innovations as charity cases and start treating them as procurement decisions.

He called specifically on PETAN, IPPG, and OPTS to become the first customers of the finalist innovations – to open their facilities for field trials, provide that critical first purchase order, and give innovators the space to demonstrate viability in real-world conditions. The industry’s ambition, he said, should shift from ‘Nigerian First’ – a compliance mindset – to ‘Nigerian Preferred,’ driven by performance.

‘At NCDMB and through the Tech-Innovation Challenge, we seek to ensure that Nigerian Content evolves beyond service delivery into the vital realm of high-end, sustainable technological ownership, ensuring that the technology powering our oil and gas industry is designed, built and deployed by Nigerians in Nigeria,’ Abdulmalik Halilu, Director of Corporate Services and Steering Committee Chairman, NCDMB said.

Goodwill messages were received from the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), NNPC Research and Technology Institute, the NCDMB Centre of Excellence, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The common theme across all messages was institutional recognition that structured innovation pipelines – not one-off competitions, not academic grants – are what it will take to close Nigeria’s technology gap in oil and gas.

The Judging

The Stage 4 Final Competition on 12 August was assessed by a panel of six independent judges: Amao Ibilola (Chief Judge), Mukhtar Abdulkadir, Sarah Nwinee, Destiny Agbanimu, Chris Awoke, and George Okoyo, who participated virtually. Each of the fifteen finalists presented a five-minute pitch followed by twelve minutes of questions – and the questions were the kind that a procurement officer, not a prize committee, would ask. Technical Readiness, Commercial Traction, Business Viability, IP and Innovation Protection, Nigerian Content and Sustainability, and Pitch Readiness were the six weighted criteria.

The top six finalists from Stage 4 returned the following day for the Final Round. The same five in-person judges assessed them against a tighter set of four strategic criteria: Strategic Fit with NCDMB’s Mandate, Commercial and Industry Impact, Scalability and Ambassadorial Potential, and Team Readiness to Receive Investment. The pitching session was facilitated by Obichi Obiajunwa, Project Manager of the TIC 2026, who also oversaw the independent scoring and results compilation process.

Three Innovations Worth Watching

First prize went to GeoPredict AI. The platform uses artificial intelligence to interpret well logs for Nigerian independent operators – returning rock type at every depth, with a confidence score, in seconds. The economics are straightforward: Nigerian independents currently spend significant sums on foreign software licences and expatriate petrophysicists. GeoPredict AI is priced per well, runs entirely in-country, and operates at TRL 7. It is not a research project. It is a product.

FrassPlus took second prize. It is a bio-augmented crude oil spill remediation solution that uses Black Soldier Fly Larvae to break down total petroleum hydrocarbons in contaminated soil – achieving up to 84 percent reduction within fourteen to twenty-one days at 60 percent lower cost than conventional chemical methods. It is 100 percent locally produced, has no chemical footprint of its own, and addresses one of the most persistent and politically sensitive challenges in the Niger Delta.

The Organic Battery – developed under the project name Metallocene – claimed third prize. Built from locally sourced organic and inorganic materials with a sodium-ion and starch composite electrolyte, it provides backup power for pipeline monitoring nodes, control systems, and remote field sensors. As Nigeria’s oil and gas infrastructure becomes increasingly digitised, the demand for locally maintainable, reliable power storage will only grow. This battery is designed for exactly that application.

What Comes Next

The top ten finalists from Stage 4 – not only the three prize winners – qualify for a three-month Post-Competition Incubation Programme managed by NCDMB, running September through November 2026.

The programme is structured around four readiness milestones: a signed Letter of Intent with an operator, a confirmed funding commitment, or a demonstrated Technology Readiness Level of 7 or above. These are not consolation prizes. They are deployment targets.

A broader community infrastructure is also being established. The Energy Research Innovators Network (ERIN) will serve as the TIC’s permanent nationwide community – open to all applicants, finalists, energy researchers, and industry professionals. The intent is to build a compounding pool of talent and proven innovations that future TIC cycles can draw from, so that each edition of the competition begins further along than the last.

The test of what the TIC 2026 has produced is not what happened in Yenagoa in August. It is whether GeoPredict AI signs an operator contract in the next twelve months. Whether FrassPlus deploys on a Niger Delta remediation site. Whether the Metallocene battery powers a pipeline sensor network. The competition is over. The work is just beginning.

A fresh transition is quietly emerging in Nigeria’s commercial office market as the country’s large businesses are moving beyond co-working, workplace strategists have observed.

The strategists recall that, just a few years ago, the future appeared to belong to remote work, hybrid teams and co-working operators, noting that organisations embraced flexibility as they adapted to a post-pandemic world, while serviced offices became an attractive option for businesses seeking speed and agility.

Contrary to expectations and analysts’ projections, the market is singing a new song as many multinational corporations and large indigenous companies are reassessing how and where they work, with a growing preference for dedicated, business-ready workplaces that provide greater operational control, stronger security and long-term flexibility.

Flexible work is far from disappearing. Co-working remains an effective solution for entrepreneurs, project teams, start-ups and businesses with short-term space requirements. Yet many large multinational occupiers are reassessing the limitations of shared workspaces for long-term operations, particularly where security, branding, regulatory compliance and specialised infrastructure are priorities.

Increasingly, they are seeking dedicated, demised workplaces tailored to their own operational requirements rather than shared environments.

Industry research from global real estate advisers, including JLL and CBRE, suggests that occupiers are placing greater emphasis on operational resilience, employee experience, technology, sustainability and speed to occupation.

Rather than viewing office space purely as a property decision, many organisations now see it as an important contributor to productivity, talent attraction and business continuity.

For companies establishing or expanding regional headquarters, the challenge extends well beyond signing a lease. Traditional office delivery often requires months of coordinating architects, contractors, ICT consultants, furniture suppliers, engineers and facilities managers before employees can occupy the space.

That process consumes management time and introduces delivery risk, particularly for organisations whose priority is running their business rather than managing construction projects.

In Abuja, this changing demand is becoming increasingly visible. World Trade Centre (WTC) Abuja is among the developments reflecting the shift, with publicly announced occupiers, including Microsoft, Citibank, General Electric (GE), S and P Global Commodity Insights, Agip and Seplat Energy. Their presence illustrates a broader market trend toward professionally managed environments capable of supporting complex corporate operations.

Rather than simply leasing office floors, WTC Abuja has increasingly supported occupiers through bespoke workplace delivery. Depending on business requirements, this can include workplace planning, fit-out coordination, engineering integration, facilities management and operational support, enabling organisations to transition from lease execution to business operations more efficiently.

The development combines completed Grade A office accommodation with resilient engineering systems, 100 percent backup power, fibre-ready infrastructure, access control, professional facilities management, executive residences and an integrated mixed-use environment.

Its affiliation with the World Trade Centres Association further distinguishes it by connecting occupiers to a global business network extending across more than 100 countries.

According to Ahmed Karim, Vice President of World Trade Centre Abuja, conversations with occupiers have changed considerably over recent years. ‘Five years ago, discussions were largely about rental rates, parking and floorplates.

Today, the first questions are about operational readiness, business continuity, technology, engineering resilience and how quickly a company can become fully operational. That reflects a broader change in what businesses now value.’

Karim believes flexibility itself has evolved. ‘We are not seeing organisations move away from flexibility; we are seeing them redefine it. They still want agility, but increasingly within dedicated workplaces that reflect their own brand, protect their operations and provide room to grow.

Businesses want partners who can simplify workplace delivery so leadership teams remain focused on customers and business performance rather than managing multiple contractors.’

Property professionals say the trend is unlikely to replace every flexible workspace model, but it is reshaping expectations among larger occupiers. As organisations reassess the total cost of occupancy, including mobilisation time, operational disruption and project management complexity, many are placing greater value on integrated workplace solutions that reduce execution risk and accelerate business readiness.

The office has not disappeared; it has evolved. For many corporate occupiers, the debate is no longer whether employees should return to the workplace, but what type of workplace best supports long-term growth.

As that conversation continues, developers capable of delivering dedicated, operationally ready environments are likely to play an increasingly important role in Nigeria’s evolving commercial real estate market.

Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, says China’s imports from Nigeria rose by about 2.3 billion dollars in the first half of 2026, an increase of 80 per cent.

Yu disclosed this during an international seminar on ‘China’s Zero-Tariff Measures and Africa’s Economic Structural Transformation’, organised by the Centre for China Studies (CCS) on Friday in Abuja.

According to him, the surge follows the implementation of China’s zero-tariff policy for African countries.

The ambassador said Nigeria-China bilateral trade also reached 18 billion dollars within the same period, representing a 35 per cent year-on-year increase.

He said the figures demonstrated the immediate impact of China’s zero-tariff policy, which took effect on May 1 and covers all 53 African countries with diplomatic relations with China.

‘Chinese imports from Nigeria surged 80 per cent to 2.3 billion dollars, with monthly growth exceeding 40 per cent in both May and June,’ Yu said.

According to him, the policy has already contributed to an estimated six per cent increase in overall African exports to China.

He said China-Africa trade reached a historic 207 billion dollars in the first half of 2026.

According to him, Chinese imports from Africa rose to 29 billion dollars in May and June alone, representing a 24 per cent year-on-year increase.

Yu said the policy had reduced trading costs for Nigerian exporters, citing savings recorded on commodities such as sesame, cattle bone granules and liquefied propane.

‘Every 100 tons of sesame exported saves 11,000 dollars in costs, while Nigeria’s annual export of 7,000 tons of cattle bone granules saves nearly 450,000 dollars,’ he said.

He added that a single shipment of 23,000 tons of Nigerian liquefied propane attracted about 300,000 dollars in tax savings under the policy.

The envoy, however, noted that the removal of tariffs alone would not guarantee Nigeria’s economic transformation.

According to him, there is a need for improved product quality, reliable supply chains and local processing.

He urged Nigerian businesses to increase investment in value addition and meet Chinese market standards to sustain access to the country’s 1.4 billion consumers.

Yu also called for stronger trade and investment cooperation, including industrial parks, technology transfer and training, saying China was ready to support Nigeria’s efforts to process raw materials locally.

‘China aims to accelerate negotiations on trade facilitation, investment protection and quarantine standards to offer a stable institutional environment for investors,’ he said.

He urged Nigerian exporters and small businesses to take advantage of platforms such as the China International Import Expo, Canton Fair and China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo to connect directly with Chinese buyers.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, said the zero-tariff policy was an opportunity to transform Nigeria from an exporter of raw materials into a producer of value-added goods.

‘The objective should be to ensure that a greater proportion of the value generated from Africa’s resources remains within Africa,’ the minister, represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Ahmed, said.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, said Nigeria must focus on exporting rather than merely exporting.

‘The question before us is not, can Nigeria export more? The question should be, can Nigeria export better?’ Abdullahi said.

He identified processed cassava, premium rice, spices, hibiscus, cashew products, soybean products, fruits and vegetables as areas with significant export potential.

Abdullahi also said that Nigeria must complement tariff-free access with modern processing industries, efficient logistics, quality assurance, traceability, storage infrastructure and export certification.

The Director of the Centre, Charles Onunaiju, said the seminar was designed to move discussions on China’s zero-tariff policy from policy announcements to practical implementation.

He said the policy represented an opportunity for Africa to address structural economic challenges, but warned that African countries must develop strategies to fully exploit market access.

Onunaiju said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could play a critical role by harmonising standards, strengthening regional value chains and creating economies of scale for African exporters.

He said the seminar’s objective was to bring together critical stakeholders to identify practical solutions to challenges that could prevent African businesses from benefiting fully from the Chinese market.

Onunaiju urged African countries to treat the zero-tariff policy as ‘a starting point’ for deeper industrialisation rather than an end in itself.

NAN reports that the seminar brought together government officials, farmers, manufacturers, exporters, traders and other stakeholders to examine how African economies could maximise the new market access.

Grammy-winning Afrobeats icon Wizkid is set to headline the 2026 Detty December Fest in Lagos, a move expected to significantly bolster the city’s lucrative festive season.

Organized by The 360Co, the festival returns from December 18 to 30, expanding to a two-stage format to showcase a vibrant mix of music, culture, and entertainment following a 2025 season that generated an estimated N396.5 billion in consumer spending. This will be Wizkid’s second consecutive Lagos show after his ‘G.O.A.T: The Greatest of All Time Experience’ show in December 2025.

The 2026 edition will introduce the Detty Pulse Stage, a new venue designed to maintain momentum throughout the full 13-day duration of the festival. This stage will offer a consistent schedule of nightlife, cultural programming, and dedicated performances from emerging African artists.

According to Dare, the Co-Founder and Group Chief Creative Officer of The 360Co, the new stage is intended to provide up-and-coming talent with the opportunity to perform alongside established headliners while ensuring the festival remains active daily. He noted that the initiative is driven by the growing global influence of African music, which he believes the festival must reflect through its programming and ambition.

Wizkid’s announcement comes after a relatively quiet year for the singer. He released the joint EP Real, Vol. 1 with Asake in January and has since focused largely on collaborations with artists including Vybz Kartel, Odeal and Jorja Smith.

He will headline the Grand Opening Concert on December 18 at the Detty Festival Stage, marking the beginning of the festival’s expanded two-stage experience.

The announcement follows the inaugural edition in 2025, which attracted more than 40,000 festivalgoers and featured international and African artists including Busta Rhymes, Gunna, Tiwa Savage, Shenseea, Juma Jux, Diamond Platnumz, Wande Coal, Phyno, Fave, Young Jonn, Qing Madi and Ice Prince.

The festival returns as Detty December continues to grow as a major cultural and economic period for Lagos. According to the MO Africa Company report The Economics of Euphoria: Lagos’ Detty December 2025, the 2025 season generated an estimated N396.5 billion in consumer spending across Lagos.

With Wizkid as its first confirmed headliner, Detty December Fest is set to be one of the major entertainment events drawing audiences to Lagos this December

ýUnited Nigeria Airlines has pledged N20 million to sponsor the prestigious annual Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction, administered by the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) for the next 10 years.

ýThe sponsorship deal was disclosed today by the executive chairman of the airline, Obiora Okonkwo, following a discussion with Usman Akanbi, the ANA president.

Under the arrangement, the airline will provide N2 million every year for the next 10 years to ANA, bringing the total sponsorship to N20 million, a commitment the association says would guarantee the continuation of the prize regardless of the change in the state government.

The yearly award which was initiated by the Anambra State government in 2021 in conjunction with the ANA leadership, has faced financial constraints in the last three years following the failure of the present state administration to continue its sponsorship.

Though the Governor Willie Obiano administration began the sponsorship with one million naira, the Governor Chukwuma Soludo administration that succeeded it in 2022 continued the sponsorship and agreed to ANA’s request to double it in consideration of inflation and administrative costs like payments to judges.

However, after two years, the organisers say the state government appears to have lost interest in continuing with the sponsorship despite several letters reminding it of its promise.

The apparent lack of commitment caused United Nigeria Airlines to intervenee and rescue the prize from uncertainty.

Announcing the airline’s decision to step in, Akanbi quoted Prof Okonkwo as saying: ‘Achebe is too precious in our consciousness for the award to continue to suffer the current epileptic funding.’

ýSpeaking on why the airline made the decision to take over the sponsorship, Okonkwo said that Achebe’s legacy demands this level of commitment.

‘Very few men and women of letters and culture in recent history’, he stated, ‘have brought as much attention and honour to the black race and the African world as the great Achebe through his writings, lectures, speeches, intellectual activism, ethical conduct, and intermittent interventions in political affairs which has made him an authentic conscience of the Nigerian people.

Reacting to the sponsorship, the ANA president, who is a senior academic at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State said: ‘We are immensely grateful to Okonkwo and his airline for their patriotic intervention. Prof was not just a world-class raconteur and essayist, but also the ANA founder who started our association in 1981 at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka and accepted to serve as its first president, thus giving it the credibility and platform that has made the association highly respected beyond Nigeria’s shores.’

ý

ýAkanbi also highlighted Okonkwo’s consistent record of honouring Achebe, stating that Okonkwo has for some been hard to preserve the late author’s legacy.

For instance, he was solely responsible for financing the erection of a statue of the late Prof. Achebe which was unveiled in July by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State at the Ugwunwasike Roundabout in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area, Achebe’s own hometown.

ýThe prize sponsorship is the latest effort made by Prof. Okonkwo and United Nigeria Airlines to cement Achebe’s legacy.

In June, one of the two Boeing 737-800NG aircraft purchased by United Nigeria Airlines was named after the late author, while the other was named after Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha.

Naming these two aircraft after both men is in line with Okonkwo’s determination to uphold their values.

Elizabeth Agboola, Nigerian tourism strategist and policy advisor, has announced the pre-order launch of her debut ebook, Tourism as Capital: 52 Weeks That Shaped a New Continental Doctrine, a collection of 52 essays challenging conventional thinking about tourism’s role in Africa’s economic future.

The publication brings together a year of insights originally shared through her weekly Office Hours with TEA series. Rather than viewing tourism as a leisure industry, the book presents tourism as an integrated economic system capable of driving investment, trade, diplomacy, workforce development, aviation, and regional integration.

‘Tourism has long been discussed as entertainment,’ said Agboola. ‘This book argues that tourism should instead be recognised as capital, an economic asset capable of creating jobs, attracting investment, strengthening international partnerships, and transforming destinations.’

Agboola, founder of NTT Global Destinations, has worked across Africa, the Caribbean, and the emerging halal economy, advancing destination development through tourism diplomacy, market access, and strategic partnerships. She led the first direct Nigeria-Caribbean charter flight to Jamaica and currently serves as Strategic Partner (Market Access and Tourism Diplomacy) to the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), Strategic Partner (International Relations and Strategic Engagement) to the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), and Halal Tourism Lead on the Nigeria Halal Economy Strategy Implementation Committee Secretariat (NHESICS).

Having travelled to more than 70 countries across six continents, Agboola draws on global experience to propose a practical framework for policymakers, investors, destination managers, academics, and tourism professionals.

The ebook examines themes including destination economies, tourism diplomacy, aviation, halal tourism, workforce development, investment, Africa-Caribbean cooperation, and the role of tourism in national development.

The pre-order launch comes ahead of the conclusion of the Office Hours with TEA series, which will publish its final edition on September 1, 2026.

Barely 48 hours to the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections, major political parties are yet to fully constitute and unveil their campaign councils, amid internal intrigues, consultations and legal disputes.

The development implies that President Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and other presidential candidates could enter the formal campaign period without clearly defined campaign structures unless last-minute decisions are reached.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed August 19, 2026, for the commencement of presidential and National Assembly campaigns, while governorship and State Assembly campaigns will begin on September 9.

APC, ADC, NDC intensify consultations

Alhaji Bala Ibrahim, APC National Director of Publicity, told BusinessDay that the party’s campaign council would be announced by the National Working Committee (NWC), adding that attention had recently been focused on the Osun governorship election which was held last Saturday.

He said the August 19 date only opens the campaign window and does not compel parties to begin activities that day. Ibrahim said the APC would unveil its council once the NWC concludes its deliberations.

Another senior APC official who craved anonymity said the party was balancing the interests of governors, former governors, lawmakers, party leaders and the five legacy parties that formed the APC. He added that some aggrieved aspirants who lost in the recent primaries would be compensated to preserve party unity.

Our correspondent gathered from party insiders that the APC’s loss in the Osun governorship election has also complicated discussions over key campaign positions, with some members questioning whether Hope Uzodimma, Imo State governor, and other Osun campaign leaders should receive prominent roles in President Tinubu’s campaign organisation.

Meanwhile, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, former Sokoto State governor, and Liyel Imoke, former Cross River State governor, are among those being considered to lead the African Democratic Congress (ADC) campaign organisation, sources told BusinessDay.

With Atiku as its presidential candidate, the party is weighing political experience and regional balance as consultations continue.

An ADC chieftain said there was no cause for alarm, adding that aggressively campaigning too early could impose high financial costs on candidates and supporters.

However, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC National Publicity Secretary, was yet to respond to enquiries from our correspondent as of press time on why the party continued to delay the unveiling of its campaign council.

However, Peter Obi, NDC presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, his running mate, and other party leaders have intensified consultations over the campaign council, our correspondent learnt.

Habibu Sale Mohammed, spokesman for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, has dismissed reports of disagreement between the Obi and Kwankwaso camps over the campaign council formation.

‘There is no fighting in the NDC over the campaign council. Everyone is working hand in hand to ensure that a credible structure is produced,’ he said.

Chief Peter Ameh, NDC senatorial candidate and former National Chairman of the defunct Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA), said the absence of a formally unveiled council did not mean the party was unprepared.

‘The campaign council is not really a problem. The important thing is that someone has already put himself on the ballot and he wants to win,’ Ameh told our correspondent in a telephone interview.

Ameh told BusinessDay that the NDC campaign would be ‘rigorous and robust’ to deliver victory to Obi on January 16, 2027.

PRP, LP, Accord, PDP others face legal complexities

Donald Duke, PRP presidential candidate, is facing a legal challenge from Yakubu Kingsley, an aspirant, over his nomination, with the Federal High Court in Abuja fixing November 2 for judgment.

Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim is also challenging his exclusion as Accord’s presidential candidate. Sam Okpala, Labour Party’s Secretary in Lagos State, said the party would commence full mobilisation after judgment in its leadership dispute.

The PDP is also dealing with a lingering leadership dispute in court, while the SDP faces a separate legal case involving former party officials.

Political analysts say the coming days could witness a flurry of announcements as parties race to settle outstanding disputes and unveil their campaign councils and Directors-General ahead of the 2027 elections.