Category: Business Day

In the hands of Ayomikun Lasaki, yarn is not merely a material for garments-it is a language for living stories. As the founder and creative mind behind Knots by Ayomikun Lasaki (KAL), the Nigerian crochet artist has pioneered a distinct visual signature that bridges the gap between global pop culture, anime, high fashion, and structural textile art.

What began as personal experimentation under Aj’s Knots has evolved into an internationally recognized creative practice. By taking beloved cultural references-from Dragon Ball to One Piece-and translating them into complex, sculptured wearables, Lasaki is challenging long-held perceptions about traditional domestic craft. Through 100-plus-hour masterworks, mentorship programs, and a growing international audience, she is positioning crochet as both modern statement fashion and fine art.

In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE-KORIEOCHA, Lasaki opens up about the internal shift behind her brand’s evolution, the technical mechanics of balancing fluid textiles with rigid forms, and why the future of her craft lies in storytelling over replication.

What shifted internally that prompted the transition from Aj’s Knots to KAL?

The shift was really about realizing that what I was building had become bigger than the name I started with. Aj’s Knots was very much connected to me learning crochet, experimenting, and figuring out what I could do with the medium. But over time, I became much more intentional about why I was making certain pieces, how I was interpreting references, and what I wanted people to feel when they encountered the work. I became less interested in simply asking, ‘What can I crochet?’ and more interested in asking, ‘What can I make people feel with crochet?’ That shift is what KAL represents for me. Knots, to me, represent stories and important moments – whether they come from animation, pop culture, or people’s own lives. So KAL became about storytelling through me, for people, with crochet. The name changed, but more importantly, my relationship with the work changed. I started seeing crochet not just as a technique, but as the medium through which I could build a much larger creative world.

How would you describe your visual signature?

I think the easiest way to describe it is that I take things people already have an emotional relationship with and translate them into crochet. A lot of my work starts from something recognizable – anime, football, music, cartoons, science fiction, pop culture – but I don’t want the final piece to feel like a printed image transferred onto crochet. I want the material itself to become part of the interpretation. So my visual language is really a combination of recognizable references, strong colour relationships, texture, scale and construction. Sometimes the reference is immediately obvious; other times, it takes a second to understand what you’re looking at. I like that moment between recognition and discovery. You see the piece first, and then you realize what it is connected to.

How do you redefine crochet as modern statement fashion and fine art?

I don’t really approach it as trying to prove that crochet can be something other than what it has traditionally been. Crochet already has that history, and I think that history is valuable. For me, the interesting question is what happens when you take that same medium and apply it to ideas, scales and contexts that people don’t necessarily associate with it. A crochet piece can be functional, but it can also be sculptural. It can exist on the body, but it can also exist on a wall. It can reference something from popular culture while still functioning as a textile artwork in its own right. So I don’t think crochet is the subject of the work. It’s the medium. The storytelling, construction, colour, texture and scale are what allow me to push it into fashion, art and other spaces. I’m interested in what happens when something traditionally associated with domestic craft enters a contemporary visual and cultural conversation.

How do you translate anime characters and motifs without making them feel like cosplay?

I think the key is interpretation rather than replication. If I’m inspired by a character, sometimes I use their face on the piece I’m creating, but I don’t just paste it onto the garment. I design the piece in a way that is fashionable and intentional, and I take attributes from the character and incorporate them into the design. For example, the Goku vest I made was intentionally a vest – and specifically a V-neck vest – because I wanted the person wearing it to feel like Goku from Dragon Ball while wearing it. I wanted the design to allow them to show off their biceps, because that is part of the physicality I associate with the character. And sometimes, I’m not interested in putting the character’s face directly onto a piece at all. I might take their colour palette, silhouette, personality, symbolism or a particular visual element and translate that through the construction of the piece. That’s why two pieces inspired by the same anime character can look completely different. One might make the character the focal point, while another might only reveal its reference through colour or details. I want the person wearing the piece to feel like they’re wearing fashion that happens to carry a story they love, rather than wearing a costume of that story. The reference can be very obvious or very quiet. Both are valid. What matters to me is that the final piece still feels like a considered piece of fashion or textile art.

Can you share a story about a wearer or client connecting personally with a piece?

One of my favourite examples was a client who commissioned a dress inspired by Trafalgar Law from One Piece. She loved the character so much that she actually called him her husband. She told me that when she looked at the dress, she wanted to be able to see his face. At the same time, her favourite colour was pink, and she really wanted pink incorporated into the piece. That was an interesting design challenge because pink isn’t really part of Trafalgar Law’s visual identity. His character has a much darker, more rugged visual language, so I had to figure out how to bring those two worlds together without compromising either of them. I went to the drawing board and designed the dress around both ideas – the character she loved and the colour that represented her. The result became this really dramatic, red-carpet-worthy piece that still felt personal to her.

She loved it so much that she eventually came back and commissioned more animeinspired pieces. That experience really reinforced something I love about this kind of work: I’m not just recreating a character. I’m taking something that already has emotional meaning for someone and translating it into something that is uniquely theirs.

How do colour and stitch techniques communicate concepts in the Crochet Archive?

I use colour almost like a visual vocabulary. A colour can separate two personalities, create contrast, or make two sides of a piece feel connected even when they’re visually different. Stitch techniques do something similar. Changes in density, texture, direction and structure can create contrast without having to explain the concept literally. The idea comes first, and then I ask myself what the material can do to communicate it.

What does your workflow look like on 100+ hour projects?

The first part is actually very slow because I spend a lot of time thinking before I start making. I’ll break down the reference or concept, think about the proportions, colours, construction and the technical problems I might encounter. Once I understand what the piece needs to do, I can start translating that into crochet. The physical process is repetitive, but mentally I’m constantly making decisions. I’m checking proportions, thinking about how one section connects to another, testing whether a particular technique gives me the texture or structure I need.

With a project that takes over 100 hours, consistency becomes very important. You can’t rely on motivation for that long. You need a process. There are definitely moments where the work becomes physically tiring, but there’s also something satisfying about seeing something that existed only as an idea gradually become a physical object stitch by stitch.

How do you balance fluid garments with rigid sculptural forms?

That’s one of the more technical parts of the work because crochet naturally has movement and flexibility, while a sculptural element might need to hold a very specific shape. I have to think about the garment almost like a structure rather than just a flat textile. Where does the weight sit? How does it move with the body? Where does it need reinforcement? What happens when someone actually walks, sits or moves in it? Sometimes the solution is in the stitch itself. Sometimes it’s in how different sections are joined or layered. I’m always trying to find that balance where the technical construction supports the visual idea without becoming visible as a technical solution. The final piece should feel intentional rather than like I’m fighting against the material.

What role do material choices play?

Material choice is part of the visual language.Yarn weight changes the scale and presence of a piece. Texture can make something feel soft, graphic, heavy or almost sculptural. Fibre composition affects how the piece falls, stretches and behaves on the body. So I don’t necessarily choose a material simply because it’s the easiest one to crochet with. I think about what the material needs to communicate and how it needs to behave once the piece is finished. For a pop-culture reference, that becomes especially important because I’m translating something that may originally exist as animation, illustration or photography into a physical textile object. The material is what bridges that gap.

What do you prioritize when mentoring emerging fiber artists?

One of the biggest things I try to teach is that technique is only one part of being a creative. Obviously, you need to know how to make things well. But I also want people to understand why they’re making something, how to develop their own visual language, how to solve problems when a technique doesn’t work, and how to keep improving instead of simply repeating what they already know. I also encourage experimentation. A lot of growth happens when you try out new things and allow yourself to make mistakes in the process. Especially for emerging artists, I think it’s important to develop both the hands and the eye. The technical ability allows you to execute an idea, but the eye is what helps you develop ideas worth executing.

How has documenting your journey online affected your trajectory?

Social media has allowed people to see the process behind the work rather than only seeing the finished object. When you’re working with crochet, people can look at a finished piece and not necessarily understand how much thought or manual work went into it. Showing the process makes that labour visible. People see the sketches, experiments, mistakes, progress and eventually the finished piece. It’s also helped me understand that the audience isn’t just watching the work – they’re part of the feedback loop. Sometimes someone’s reaction to a piece gives me a perspective I hadn’t considered. Commercially, that visibility has also opened doors to custom commissions, collaborations, training opportunities and conversations with people outside my immediate environment. But probably the biggest impact has been that documenting the journey has made the evolution of my work visible. People aren’t just seeing KAL as a finished brand. They’re seeing an artist develop in real time.

Nigerian developers risk paying more over the life of a building by prioritising cheaper construction materials over durability, industry experts have warned, as rising project costs push builders to seek savings at the procurement stage.

The call was made at the sixth edition of Big 5 Construct Nigeria, held from September 22 to 24 at the Landmark Centre, Lagos, where industry professionals discussed construction costs, material selection, sustainability, and the commercial viability of modern building solutions.

The event brought together more than 170 exhibitors from over 20 countries, including Germany, India, Spain, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates, showcasing solutions spanning building materials, heavy machinery, HVACR, MEP systems, tools, and adhesives.

During one of the Big 5 Talks sessions on fit-out and finishes, speakers said developers need to consider material performance, durability, sustainability, and the intended use of a building from the early stages of design and procurement.

Abimbola Onagbade, Head of CDK Integrated Industries Ltd., said the focus on initial price can obscure the actual cost of owning and maintaining a property.

‘Value is the lowest sensible whole life cost, not the lowest initial price,’ Onagbade said.

He said developers sometimes spend heavily on land and construction but become reluctant to spend relatively small additional amounts on better-quality finishing materials.

‘You build, you buy a property, or you buy land of 100 million, you build a structure of 200 million, and then you are arguing over a tile of 3,000, 5,000 thereabout,’ he said.

According to Onagbade, repeated replacement of cheaper materials can ultimately make them more expensive.

‘A lot of times, we buy products that one year, two years, or three years after that we have to replace. Whereas you just buy, spend a little bit more, and buy a product that will last you 15 or 20 years further down the line,’ he said.

The speakers said the same principle should apply to material choices made during the design process, rather than waiting until construction reaches the finishing stage.

‘At the point of ideation, your flooring solution is also very critical. So you should think through that from the onset,’ Onagbade explained.

He further stressed that developers should understand material performance before using cost-cutting measures.

‘Developers need to understand material performance so that they can use that to inform their decisions when they’re buying and engineering downwards.’

The discussion also linked construction decisions to sustainability, with speakers urging developers to consider environmental and economic factors alongside cost.

‘It hinges on three pillars: economics, environment, and society,’ said Victor Fabunmi, Programmes Manager, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria).

Fabunmi said developers should consider energy efficiency, carbon footprint, waste management, water use, and the environmental impact of materials when planning projects.

Speakers also encouraged greater use of locally available materials and suppliers where they meet required standards, saying early planning can help developers assess quality, availability, and cost before construction begins.

Big 5 Construct Nigeria also featured more than 30 free-to-attend, CPD-certified Big 5 Talks sessions covering project management, architecture and design, technology, sustainable building materials, and façades.

Organised by Dmg Events, the three-day exhibition provided a platform for construction professionals to connect with suppliers and decision-makers as the sector grapples with rising project costs and growing demand for more sustainable building practices.

Anambra State farmers are increasingly processing cassava, rice and other farm produce into marketable products to boost income and create jobs.

Deborah Onyefulu, State Programme Coordinator of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), stated this at a two-day Interactive Commodity Promotion Show and Agricultural Fair in Awka.

The event was organised in collaboration with the Anambra State Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation, Processing and Export.

Onyefulu, represented by the Acting State Business and Market Development Officer, Mary Obiekwe, said the fair was designed to promote farmers, create market opportunities and assess the impact of training provided under the programme.

She said the initiative was strengthening the rice and cassava value chains by equipping farmers with skills to process farm produce into products such as cassava moi-moi, chin-chin, cake and chocolate.

Farmers from nine participating Local Government Areas, including Ayamelum, Anambra East, Anambra West, Orumba North, Awka North, Orumba South, Ihiala, Ogbaru and Aguata, participated in the fair.

John Okafor, Director of Agro Market Square, said the quality of products from Anambra farmers had improved significantly in recent years.

He urged the government to provide more training, funding and agricultural inputs to sustain the progress.

Nnaemeka Agundu, a farmer from Awka North, said the VCDP training had improved his knowledge of processing, packaging and marketing, helping him expand his agro-business and increase his income.

At the end of the assessment, Orumba South emerged first, followed by Ihiala and Aguata in second and third positions respectively.

Nigeria rarely suffers from a complete absence of policies, institutions, resources or ideas. The more persistent problem is what happens between having them and making them work. This week’s Yaba School of Thought contributions repeatedly return to that gap. From a refinery IPO that promises wider ownership, to early childhood policies that await implementation, waste that could become an economic resource, universities divided by disciplinary boundaries, African economies constrained by inherited global structures, political communication that challenges conventional analysis, and foreign aid regulation that risks creating another layer of control, the common concern is how systems translate formal arrangements into real outcomes.

The seven articles also question some of the categories through which Nigeria and the wider world understand development. Ownership is not necessarily the same as influence. A policy is not the same as implementation. Waste is not necessarily worthless. Science and the Humanities are not opposing territories. National borders do not contain the forces that shape economies and power. Political language cannot always be understood through established conventions. And transparency does not necessarily require greater state control. In each case, the writer asks readers to look beyond the structure itself and examine how it functions.

That makes this week’s collection particularly relevant to a country seeking to move from reform to results. The challenge is not simply to create another framework, institution or rule, but to build the capacity, incentives, accountability and connections that allow existing resources and institutions to deliver. Development ultimately becomes meaningful when citizens can see its effects in their schools, communities, businesses, universities, markets and public services.

Common Thread:

The strongest common thread across the week’s articles is the distinction between formal structure and functional capacity. Edem Dorothy Ossai’s examination of early childhood education shows that Nigeria has spent years developing policies, standards and guidelines, yet children still face unequal access because financing, workforce capacity, coordination and accountability remain weak. Martins Owadasa-Olusola makes a related argument about foreign aid: the country needs better information and accountability, but adding another regulatory layer may not solve the underlying institutional problem.

Other contributors extend this argument beyond government policy. Ogie Eboigbe examines the Dangote Refinery IPO and asks whether wider share ownership will amount to meaningful participation when control remains concentrated. Prof Sunday Ene-Ojo Atawodi looks at waste not as an inevitable public burden but as an economic resource that requires systems for separation, recovery and reuse. In both cases, the existence of an asset or opportunity means little without the institutional arrangements needed to unlock its value.

Prof Francis Egbokhare, Dr Bunmi Oyinsan and Dr Richard Ikiebe take the argument into knowledge, international political economy and political communication. Egbokhare challenges the rigid separation of disciplines when complex problems require knowledge to cross boundaries. Oyinsan questions whether national borders have become limits on African political imagination even though capital and power routinely cross them. Ikiebe, meanwhile, argues that established political conventions may not adequately explain Donald Trump’s political communication and its appeal to his constituency. Together, these pieces encourage a broader habit of thought: question the framework before assuming it explains the reality.

Ogie Eboigbe examines the emotional and economic significance of the Dangote Refinery IPO against Nigeria’s long relationship with petroleum. The offer gives Nigerians an opportunity to acquire an economic stake in a major refining business, but the article carefully distinguishes ownership from control. Minority shareholders may participate in the company’s financial fortunes without acquiring corresponding influence over its governance. The article therefore argues that questions about free float, dividend policy, minority shareholder rights and regulatory oversight deserve as much attention as the headline size of the offering.

Edem Dorothy Ossai argues that Nigeria’s problem with early childhood development is no longer primarily a shortage of policies, but the failure to translate existing commitments into consistent services for children. Despite nearly two decades of policies, standards and curricula, access remains particularly weak among poorer and rural communities, while fragmented financing, limited institutional capacity and shortages of adequately trained practitioners continue to undermine delivery. The article’s proposal to explore results-based and outcomes-based financing adds a practical dimension to the argument, linking public resources more directly to measurable improvements in children’s development. Its central message is clear: Nigeria does not need another framework as much as it needs the capacity, financing and accountability to make the frameworks already in place work.

Prof Sunday Ene-Ojo Atawodi challenges the familiar treatment of waste as primarily a sanitation problem. Nigeria’s enormous waste stream contains materials that could generate economic value through recycling, composting, biogas production, recovery and reuse. The article proposes source segregation, decentralised recovery facilities, formalisation of waste pickers, extended producer responsibility and better treatment of hazardous waste. Its wider lesson is that poor systems can turn potentially valuable resources into public costs, while better organisation can create jobs and reduce flooding, pollution and health risks.

Prof Francis Egbokhare questions the familiar division between the Sciences and the Arts and Humanities, arguing that disciplinary boundaries are administrative necessities rather than divisions inherent in reality. Modern challenges such as artificial intelligence, climate change, public health and urban development require technical expertise alongside history, culture, ethics, language and an understanding of human behaviour. For Nigeria, he argues, universities should make disciplinary boundaries more permeable and prepare graduates to work across them. Development requires not a hierarchy between knowledge systems but their intelligent integration.

Dr Bunmi Oyinsan takes the discussion beyond national boundaries, asking whether Africa’s political analysis has become too confined by the borders inherited from colonial rule. Using the international reaction to the dispute involving Professor Jason Arday and Ghent University as an illustration of how national power can operate across borders, the article examines the wider relationship between historical inequality, international finance, economic dependence and state agency. It does not dismiss domestic responsibility but argues that African development also needs to be understood within an international system whose rules and institutions emerged from unequal historical circumstances. The central challenge is to think about power as something that routinely crosses the borders within which political analysis is often confined.

Dr Richard Ikiebe examines Donald Trump’s political communication and argues that conventional political analysis may underestimate the way his language functions among his supporters. The article distinguishes between dismissing provocative statements as political disorder and examining the constituencies they address, the grievances they activate and the behaviour they seek to produce. It does not present a Republican victory as certain, noting that polling and the normal dynamics of mid-term elections pose significant challenges. Its broader proposition is methodological: political actors who disrupt established conventions may require analysts to reconsider the assumptions and instruments through which their behaviour is interpreted.

Martins Owadasa-Olusola examines the proposed Foreign Aid (Regulation, Coordination, Transparency and Disclosure) Bill and distinguishes the legitimate demand for transparency from a broader expansion of government control. Nigeria needs to know who provides external assistance, where it goes, what it finances and what results it produces. But the article argues that these objectives could be pursued through a consolidated national registry, project-level disclosure, appropriate audits and risk-based investigations rather than a regulatory structure with extensive discretion over organisations receiving foreign funding. The larger argument is that accountability works best when it addresses specific institutional failures without unnecessarily restricting research, healthcare, humanitarian work and civil society.

Closing Reflection:

The week’s conversation ultimately returns to a deceptively simple question: what makes a system work? The answer is rarely another policy document, another boundary or another institution. It is the ability to connect resources to outcomes, authority to accountability, knowledge to practical problems and institutions to the people they are meant to serve. Nigeria’s next developmental gains will depend increasingly on that capacity to make what already exists work better.

The Federal Government has evacuated another 105 distressed Nigerians from South Africa following renewed concerns over xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Nigerians and other Africans in the country.

The returnees, comprising 82 adults and 23 children, arrived in Lagos on South African Airways flight SA060 at about 8:30pm on Thursday, September 24, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement by Oluwafemi Adeniyi, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday.

Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant government agencies received the returnees on arrival.

The latest evacuation brings to 1,821 the number of Nigerians repatriated from South Africa since the Federal Government commenced the consular evacuation exercise on June 10, 2026.

According to the ministry, the latest exercise was the 13th consular evacuation from South Africa since the programme began.

Of the 1,821 Nigerians evacuated so far, the Federal Government fully funded the evacuation of 1,388 persons.

The ministry said the evacuation of 100 of the 105 returnees in the latest batch was funded from a $265,854 donation made by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) to purchase one-way tickets for 500 distressed Nigerians seeking to return to Nigeria from South Africa.

The remaining five returnees were evacuated with funding provided by a private Nigerian citizen, the ministry said.

The government said its diplomatic mission in South Africa was continuing discussions with the leadership of RCCG and other philanthropic groups and individuals to facilitate the return of additional Nigerians who have expressed concerns over their safety.

It added that some distressed Nigerians were undergoing preliminary clearance with the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg and relevant South African authorities.

‘They will be evacuated as soon as the process is finalized,’ the ministry said.

The Federal Government expressed appreciation to RCCG, led by Enoch Adejare Adeboye, for its donation towards the evacuation of 500 Nigerians, describing the intervention as a contribution to efforts to provide relief to Nigerians seeking to return home because of distress and concerns over their safety.

It also commended other groups and individuals that had supported the evacuation programme.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Federal Government remained ‘deeply concerned’ about persistent xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Nigerians and other Africans in the country.

It said Nigeria would continue diplomatic engagements and pursue other measures to secure the cooperation of South African authorities in tackling xenophobia and Afrophobia and protecting Nigerians living in the country.

‘The Federal Government remains deeply concerned about persistent Xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa,’ the ministry said.

It reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the lives, rights, welfare and dignity of Nigerians in the diaspora, adding that appropriate diplomatic and consular measures would be deployed whenever circumstances required.

The government also urged Nigerians resident in South Africa to remain vigilant and law-abiding and maintain contact with the Nigeria High Commission in Pretoria and the Consulate General of Nigeria in Johannesburg for consular assistance when necessary.

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.

The political defections of Peter Obi, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and other opposition figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) on May 3, 2026, have come under renewed legal scrutiny following last Thursday’s Supreme Court judgment restoring key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

Obi and Kwankwaso formally joined the NDC on May 3 after leaving the ADC, a move widely reported at the time as part of the opposition realignment ahead of the 2027 general elections.

But the Supreme Court’s September 24 decision has reopened questions about the legal consequences of party switching where membership records submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are involved.

In a unanimous decision by a seven-member panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro, the apex court allowed INEC’s appeal and restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which had earlier been invalidated by the Court of Appeal. The court also awarded N2 million in costs against the Zenith Labour Party.

The restored provisions require political parties to operate with membership registers submitted to INEC and restrict participation in party primaries to members whose names appear on the relevant register.

It is against this legal background that Obono-obla argues that the circumstances surrounding the May 3 defections deserve closer examination.

Seven days that could prove crucial

May 3 is significant because it fell seven days before the reported May 10 deadline for submission of the relevant party membership registers.

Obono-obla’s argument is that the date of a defection, by itself, may not settle the question of whether the transfer was legally effective.

According to his interpretation, a politician leaving one party must first ensure that the old party formally removes his or her details from its membership register before registering with another party.

That, he argues, raises a crucial factual question: were the names and National Identification Numbers (NINs) of those who moved from ADC to NDC properly removed from the former party’s register before the new register was submitted to INEC?

If the same individual remained on both registers, Obono-obla contends that the restored statutory regime could create a dual-membership problem.