Category: Nigerian Tribune

The Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has announced that over N100 million has been spent on cash prizes for farmers across the 16 Local Government Areas of Ekiti State.

The nonagenarian noted that since the Afe Babalola Agric Expo (ABAEX) scheme commenced in 2015, this amount has been allocated, including N11.2 million distributed to winners at this year’s edition.

He also revealed plans to establish an Ekiti Farmers’ House in Ado-Ekiti as part of efforts to promote modern agriculture, empower farmers, and attract youth and graduates to the farming sector.

Speaking at the grand finale of the 2026 edition of the Annual Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo (ABAEX) in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, he stated that the proposed Farmers’ House would serve as a secretariat and provide a platform for farmers to access modern agricultural equipment and other support services.

He explained that the scheme started in 2015 with a total prize purse of N5 million, with the overall Best Farmer in Ekiti State receiving N1 million and the best farmer in each of the 16 local government areas receiving N250,000.

According to him, the reward system has since increased, with the overall Best Farmer in the state now receiving N2 million, while the top three farmers in each local government receive N200,000, N100,000 and N50,000 respectively.

He said the initiative would be established in partnership with the Ekiti State Government and the 16 local government areas of the state, with the Farmers’ House expected to acquire modern agricultural equipment, including bulldozers, ridgers, ploughs and harvesters, which would be made available to farmers at affordable rates.

According to him, the arrangement would enable farmers to hire modern agricultural implements through their local governments and engage in large-scale, productive farming without having to rely on traditional hoes and cutlasses.

Babalola said: ‘My hope and wish are to establish Ekiti Farmers’ House to be domiciled in Ado-Ekiti. The proposed Ekiti Farmers’ House will have a secretariat which will be inviting members for meetings and allied matters.

‘In addition, and in partnership with the State Government and the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, the Farmers’ House will acquire modern farm implements such as bulldozers, ridgers, ploughs and harvesters, among others, which the Ekiti Farmers’ House will be renting to farmers at low rates.’

Babalola said the ABAEX initiative, which began in 2015, was conceived out of his desire to restore dignity and pride to farming as a noble profession and encourage Nigerians to return to agriculture.

He expressed concern that many Nigerians had abandoned agriculture for white-collar jobs, menial employment or idleness, leading to increasing hunger and dependence on government palliatives.

The ABUAD founder, who said he was born and raised on a farm, explained that his early experience of farming with his father had shaped his enduring passion for agriculture.

Babalola said despite his later achievements in law, education, healthcare and philanthropy, he had retained large hectares of land for the cultivation of arable and cash crops.

He challenged secondary schools, polytechnics and universities to give greater attention to agricultural education and practical farming, while urging young people to shun fraudulent activities and embrace productive ventures.

According to him, Nigeria must deliberately return to agriculture if it is to regain its lost economic glory, noting that the country was once a leading global producer of palm oil and cocoa.

He said his personal experience had taught him that the amount of money available to an individual was less important than how wisely it was invested.

He said he had started investing in education while earning only one pound per month and had consistently reinvested the returns from his efforts to achieve his present status.

Representing Governor Biodun Oyebanji at the ceremony, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, commended Babalola for his sustained support for farmers and agricultural development in Ekiti.

Boluwade said recent agricultural production data validated by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Office, an accredited agency under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, showed that production of major crops in the state had increased between 2022 and 2025.

He attributed the improvement to the resilience of farmers and various interventions by the state government and private sector partners.

The commissioner said the Oyebanji administration had, in the last four years, supported farmers through free land-clearing activities, which had benefited more than 5,000 farmers, tractorisation subsidy, access to fertilisers and agrochemicals, improved seeds and seedlings and market expansion initiatives.

He disclosed that the state had also secured approval from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to establish a Special Agro-Processing Zone in Ekiti, describing the project as a major intervention that would create jobs for youths and increase the income of farmers.

Fashion entrepreneur and content creator, Toheeb Opeyemi, has spoken about what he hopes to achieve in the fashion business, reflecting on his journey from tailoring and fashion design to retail and wholesale.

At 27, Opeyemi said he does not consider himself to have arrived, despite the progress he has made since starting out as a tailor and later establishing his clothing business, OTP Label.

‘I don’t feel like I have arrived yet. There is still a lot I want to achieve,’ he said.

Opeyemi, who lost his father when he was five months old and later his mother, said growing up without both parents taught him to take responsibility for his future and find ways of dealing with difficult circumstances.

He also recalled the influence of his mother, who worked as a hairdresser, saying her resilience and consistency shaped his approach to work.

‘When things are difficult, my first thought is always about how I can find another way forward,’ he said.

He said he started out in tailoring and fashion design but eventually realised that the income from tailoring alone was not enough for the future he wanted. Rather than leave the fashion industry, he decided to save from his earnings and explore clothing retail.

According to him, he saved ?300,000 as his starting capital for retailing clothes. He admitted that putting the money into a new venture was a difficult decision because it represented a significant amount to him at the time.

Opeyemi said his experience in retail later exposed him to the possibility of supplying other cloth-ing sellers, leading him to move into wholesale.

He recalled that sourcing products and finding reliable suppliers was one of the challenges he encountered during the early stages. He said he searched extensively online and at one point paid for access to a supplier’s contact, while also dealing with concerns over product quality and reliability.

He later raised about ?1.5 million to expand into wholesale, combining his savings with financial support from his wife. He said the decision was a major risk because he had never operated at that level before.

‘My wife believed in what I was trying to build, and her support made a difference,’ he said.

Reflecting on the lessons from his early mistakes, Opeyemi said he learnt that personal prefer-ence could not determine what he stocked for customers. He said understanding what people actually wanted became important to making better decisions about products, money and re-stocking.

Looking ahead, he said he wants to build a business that can serve people who are already in the clothing trade as well as those looking to start.

‘I started as a tailor, saved ?300,000 to enter retail and later raised ?1.5 million with my savings and support from my wife to become a wholesaler,’ he said. ‘But at 27, I don’t feel like I have arrived yet,’ Oyeyemi added.

Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will be re-elected in 2027, saying he has faith in God that the President will return for a second term.

Umahi, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said Tinubu’s performance and the difficult economic situation he inherited were enough reasons for Nigerians to give him another mandate.

‘I have faith in God that God will return him,’ the minister declared when asked what gave him the impression that Nigerians might re-elect Tinubu in 2027.

According to him, ‘Power belongs to God, and God brought him,’ stressing that Tinubu assumed office at a particularly challenging period and had been confronted with several obstacles.

Umahi, who dismissed the suggestion that his assessment was based merely on the fact that Tinubu is his principal, said the President was ‘doing very well’ and that his economic reforms, though painful, were necessary to rescue the country.

‘He came at a very challenging period. All manner of obstacles were thrown on his way. Power belongs to God, and God brought him,’ he said.

The minister acknowledged that the reforms had brought hardship to Nigerians, particularly vulnerable citizens, but argued that the measures were required to address the country’s economic problems.

Responding to concerns that many Nigerians were struggling to feed and were yet to see the benefits of the reforms, Umahi said the administration should be judged against the economic situation it inherited.

He said Nigerians should compare key economic indices at the time Tinubu assumed office with the current situation, insisting that the President had taken difficult decisions in the interest of the country.

Umahi’s prediction came against the backdrop of an earlier assertion during the interview that the Federal Government would complete four major legacy road projects within the next three years ‘by God’s special grace.’

The minister listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Road, Trans-Sahara/Trans-Harada corridor and Akwanga-Jos Road among the major projects being pursued by the administration as part of an interconnected road network designed to drive economic activity across the country.

He also defended the administration’s record on inherited road projects, revealing that Tinubu inherited 2,068 projects valued at about N13 trillion when the administration assumed office in 2023.

According to him, about 80 per cent of the projects currently being executed by his ministry were inherited from the previous administration.

Umahi said the President had directed him not to abandon inherited projects because many of them were located on major economic corridors.

On the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which has attracted controversy over its cost, procurement and financing, the minister rejected allegations of wrongdoing and said he was prepared to take responsibility for the procurement process.

He disclosed that the first section of the project, covering 47.47 kilometres, had been completed, while work on the second section was nearing completion.

Umahi said the government was financing the legacy projects through an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing arrangement, with the Federal Government providing 30 per cent while 70 per cent was being sourced through external financing.

He specifically said Deutsche Bank provided financing for Section One of the coastal highway, adding that the facility was oversubscribed by $100 million.

The minister also maintained that the reforms and infrastructure projects were intended to lay the foundation for long-term economic prosperity, arguing that the current administration should not be judged solely by the immediate hardship accompanying its policies.

Umahi’s declaration is one of the clearest expressions yet from a senior member of the administration of confidence in Tinubu’s return to office in 2027, even as Nigerians continue to grapple with the cost-of-living pressures arising from the government’s economic reforms.

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Oluyole Local Government chapter, has dismissed the reported defection of some persons from the APM to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the claim as evidence of the opposition party’s growing political anxiety ahead of the 2027 elections.

The party, in a statement at the weekend in reaction to a report that APM members in Oluyole Local Government Area had defected to the APC, said the claim was merely a product of the APC’s imagination and could not have been taken seriously by any serious political actor in the federal constituency or state.

Ayokunle Shonaike, the APM Publicity Secretary in Oluyole, who made this known in the statement, described the APC as a party embarking on a mere political jamboree to convince people of its existence in the local government.

The party said the APC’s celebration surrounding the development was grossly misplaced and undignified for a party at the centre claiming to exist by popular vote, particularly because those paraded as leaders of the defection had long been expelled from the APM for various anti-party offences.

The party described Oluyole as a ‘no-go’ area for the APC ahead of the forthcoming 2027 general elections, insisting that the opposition party’s decision to ‘roll out drums’ over what it described as a gathering of expelled individuals exposed its fears about the political strength of the APM in the federal constituency and its imminent electoral defeat at the polls.

The APC had reported that more than 1,000 APM members in Oluyole switched allegiance to the party at an event held at its secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan.

According to the APC report, the defectors accused Governor Seyi Makinde of failing to appreciate loyalty, good human relations and sacrifice.

Reacting, however, Shonaike said the APC’s decision to even make the alleged false claim a political event raised fundamental questions about the actual strength of the opposition party in Oluyole Federal Constituency.

The campaign organisation said it was curious that the APC was celebrating a few individuals whose political status within the APM had already been enmeshed in various anti-party behaviours and conduct, describing the development as an attempt to portray already expelled persons who no longer represented the party’s structure in Oluyole as relevant in order to score non-existent political points in the eyes of unsuspecting members of the public.

The party also questioned the claim that more than 1,000 APM members had defected to the APC, saying the report did not provide images or video evidence of the alleged defectors, their wards or any independently verifiable proof to substantiate what it described as false propaganda.

According to the party, genuine political realignment should be demonstrated through identifiable political structures and subsequent electoral performance rather than imaginary figures announced during party events.

The APM said the APC’s presentation of the development as a political breakthrough was particularly laughable, given what it described as the party’s failure to dislodge the APM’s deeply and widely entrenched structure in Oluyole.

The party maintained that the presence of APC leaders, candidates and other party officials at the event did not automatically translate into a mass political movement, arguing that photographs from a party secretariat where more than 80 per cent of attendees were known APC members could not be presented as a representation of the facts on the ground.

On the allegation that Governor Makinde was ‘selfish and clueless’, the APM said the statement represented the political opinion of the individuals quoted at the event on account of personal insatiable greed and should not be presented as a known fact.

The party queried the motive behind those making what it described as false claims against Makinde just to gain access to a share of the APC largesse and national cake being distributed across states of the federation ahead of the 2027 elections.

The APM said the electorate would ultimately assess the performance of political parties and candidates based on their track records, programmes and engagement with the people, rather than allegations exchanged during political defection ceremonies.

The party also rejected the assertion attributed to the defectors that the APM was Governor Makinde’s ‘private estate’, describing it as partisan rhetoric aimed at undermining a political platform that is preparing for the 2027 elections.

Wondering if the APC had drawn any lessons from its unprecedented defeat despite what it described as the deployment of federal might in the last Osun governorship election, the party said the opposition should focus on articulating its own programmes in clear terms and explaining what else its candidates could offer the people of Oluyole after two failed opportunities, instead of relying on attacks against Governor Makinde and the APM.

It further dismissed the claim that the APC was the ‘only political party that is worth its name’, describing such a statement as a partisan assertion rather than a genuine assessment of Nigeria’s current political reality and the nation’s multiparty democratic system.

According to the APM, voters in Oluyole are capable of assessing the competing political platforms and making their choices based on issues, records and candidates, stressing that Engr. Akeem Olatunji would have flawlessly defeated the APC’s candidate before the close of voting on election day.

The party also advised the APC to learn from the outcome of the recent Osun State governorship election, where the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, was defeated by the eventual winner, Ademola Adeleke, despite what it described as the deployment of the party’s entire federal might in the state for a one-off election.

Shonaike said the Osun experience should remind the Oyo APC that claims of false political relevance, rallies and publicised defections without substance no longer win elections.

The party said the APC’s celebration over ex-APM members should therefore not be mistaken for an indication of political relevance, insisting that the 2027 contest would be decided by voters across the federal constituency.

The LG party’s spokesman said Oluyole remained a difficult political territory for the APC and that the party’s attempt to create an impression of a major breakthrough through the reception of expelled APM members would not change the political realities on the ground.

He described the decision to ‘roll out drums’ over the defection as a sign of anxiety and fear of what it called an inevitable defeat, urging the APC to concentrate on building a credible campaign around issues rather than what it described as propaganda.

He maintained that the 2027 election would not be won through newspaper headlines or defection ceremonies but through genuine grassroots support, effective organisation and the confidence of the electorate.

The party consequently challenged the APC to engage the people of Oluyole directly on its candidates, policies and programmes, rather than attempting to create an impression of political momentum through what it described as imaginary numerical claims.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed former Minister of Transportation and Vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, as a loafer who relies on public funds for his survival.

This response came after Amaechi alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies contributed to the death of his mother.

During a live appearance on a Channels TV program last Friday, Amaechi claimed that the hardship caused by the current administration’s economic reforms was indirectly responsible for his late mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi’s death, as he struggled to afford her medications.

He stated, ‘Tinubu’s policies killed my mother. Before Tinubu came into power, my mother was healthy. After 2023, it became difficult for me to buy medication for her.’

Amaechi’s mother passed away last July at the age of 89.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Barrister Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, characterized Amaechi as a politician who has quickly become destitute, just three years after leaving office.

The APC urged Nigerians to refrain from voting for the ADC in the upcoming presidential election in January, asserting that Amaechi has become accustomed to living off public funds.

His statement read: ‘The All Progressives Congress (APC) prays that the soul of Dame Ezinne Mary Oduah Amaechi continues to rest in perfect peace. Amen.

‘We also pray for excellent health of mind and body for her son, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, a former two-term Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor, two-term Minister of Transportation, former presidential aspirant, and currently the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who could not afford medications for his mother’s treatment.

‘It is our sincere wish that employers of labour in his hometown of Ubima in Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State may find him suitable for a job that pays wages sufficient for him to feed and buy medications for himself and his beloved family the rest of his retirement. Amen.

‘Rotimi Amaechi’s uncanny confessions must not be missed. First, he howled that he had become so broke and hungry that his wife was now feeding him. Now, he has stated that his inability to afford medications killed his mother at 89.

‘For four decades, Rotimi Amaechi freeloaded at the highest levels of public office. He was never hungry and could afford medications for himself and his family. Just three years out of office, he has become destitute, unable to fend for himself and his loved ones. If Amaechi is not struggling with some kind of Peter Pan syndrome, then he must be a loafer, aimless and irresponsible for his inability to be productive and earn a living outside the patronage of public office.

‘The same Rotimi Amaechi now asks Nigerians to make him vice president come 2027 so he can continue leeching on public treasury and keep the predatory lifestyle he has grown accustomed to.

‘The presidency is not a soup kitchen, and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi.

‘There can be no better speaker of Rotimi Amaechi’s unfitness for the office of vice president than Rotimi Amaechi himself.’

WHAT happens when two distinct African cosmologies meet in contemporary art? In ‘Passages of the Unseen’, Godspower Ignatus Okoro brings Yoruba and Igbo ideas of spirituality into the same visual field, using installation to explore memory, transformation and cycles of loss and renewal. His work does more than revisit mythology: it considers what these belief systems might mean today.

An assemblage of 14 panels, arranged in two rows of seven, ‘Passages of the Unseen’ explores movement between the material and spiritual worlds. At its centre is an encounter between two West African traditions: Yoruba and Igbo.

In Nigeria, the Yoruba and Igbo hold distinct cultural and geographical spaces. So where does Okoro locate their point of convergence?

The answer appears to lie less in shared mythology than in a common engagement with spirituality, healing and remembrance. Through colour, texture, absence and intervals, Okoro turns the installation into a space of transition. Its shifting palette and abstract suggestions of earthly and cosmic matter draw the viewer towards ritual, symbolism and forces that resist easy definition.

This does not necessarily collapse the differences between the two traditions. Instead, Okoro places them alongside one another, keeping their affinities and distinctions visible. The installation’s strength lies in that tension.

Okoro turns more directly to Igbo mythology in another work, ‘Ogbanje’. The term refers, within a traditional Igbo spiritual framework, to a spirit associated with repeated cycles of birth and premature death. The child is believed to return to the same family, producing a cycle of grief and loss.

In prints on paper that resemble drawings, Okoro renders the ogbanje myth through images of infant heads. White figures emerge against black backgrounds, producing an atmosphere that is stark, mysterious and troubling. Among the elements associated with the tradition is the iyi-uwa, understood in some accounts as an object or personal belonging believed to anchor the spirit to the cycle of birth and death. Its discovery and destruction are traditionally understood as a way to break that cycle.

Here, a striking parallel emerges. Yoruba tradition has its own related concept in ‘Abiku,’ a spirit child associated with repeated cycles of birth and premature death. Yet Okoro does not explicitly connect ‘abiku’ to his treatment of ‘ogbanje’.

The omission is worth considering. If ‘Passages of the Unseen’ brings Yoruba and Igbo traditions together through broader questions of spirituality and memory, ogbanje and abiku offer a more specific point of comparison. Both concern the recurring child and the persistence of an unseen spiritual world. The absence of abiku from Okoro’s treatment of ogbanje does not necessarily weaken the work; instead, it leaves open a question about how contemporary artists should approach parallels within African traditions without reducing their differences.

Chronology may also be significant. ‘Passages of the Unseen’, which might have provided a conceptual bridge between the two traditions, was created a year after ‘Ogbanje’. The relationship between the works therefore remains suggestive rather than explicit.

Together, ‘Passages of the Unseen’ and ‘Ogbanje’ show Okoro using African cosmologies not simply as subjects to be represented, but as ways of thinking about memory, death, spirituality and transformation. In the installation, Yoruba and Igbo traditions meet through the language of the unseen; in ‘Ogbanje’, an Igbo myth of recurring birth and death becomes an image of grief, mystery and remembrance.

The absence of abiku from Ogbanje leaves the relationship between the two traditions unresolved, but that gap is productive. It points to the complexity of bringing distinct cosmologies into dialogue while allowing each to retain its history and meaning. Okoro’s works ultimately suggest that the value of these traditions rests not only in preserving their myths, but in asking what those myths can still reveal about life, death and belief in the contemporary world.

Taraba Governor, Dr Agbu Kefas on Saturday, alleged that security personnel were involved in facilitating illegal mining operations responsible for the security challenges in some parts of the state.

The governor also alleged that some persons within official structures have become part of an illegal mining network, stating that the issue was not peculiar to miners operating in remote areas.

While speaking during a round table meeting with artisanal and small-scale miners in Jalingo, Kefas vow to dismantle any illegal network sustaining illegal mining, as the state government was working towards replacing unsafe mining and processing practices with safer technologies, particularly those involving mercury in gold processing.

The governor vowed that his administration would no longer allow mineral resources to be exploited outside the government’s regulatory framework.

‘I am aware that security personnel are giving cover to illegal miners to freely operate; I also have fact with me that some persons within government official structures have become part of illegal mining network.

‘Let me make it clear that we would no longer allow mineral resources to be exploited outside the government regulatory framework; we will dismantle any illegal network sustaining illegal mining in the state’. The governor insisted.

Kefas informed that his government was determined to understand the structure behind the operations of illegal mining, and address it through stronger coordination among security agencies, regulators and the mining communities.

This is just as he said the administration was also developing a system to enable genuine miners to operate legally, while making it easier for government agencies to identify and deal with those exploiting the state’s mineral resources illegally.

The governor directed the miners’ association to submit a comprehensive list of equipment required by its members, including the estimated cost to government seeking financing support to acquire and deploy the equipment to designated mining sites.

‘Properly equipped and registered miners would operate in designated areas, while off-takers would be encouraged to buy minerals from regulated locations; These would improve traceability and government oversight.

‘Also, accurate data on miners, their communities, villages, locations and operations be compiled as part of the reform. We want reliable information to protect legitimate miners and regulate the sector.

‘This arrangement would also provide the security agencies with better information on mining activities, and enable the government to distinguish genuine artisanal miners seeking a livelihood from criminal operators’. The governor directed.

In separate contributions, mining groups including, Women in Mining, and many others thanked governor Kefas for the steps taken to identify genuine miners from criminals exploiting the state’s mineral resources.

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called on international development partners to support the establishment of vaccine manufacturing facilities in Nigeria, saying the absence of local production capacity is delaying its attainment of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Maturity Level 4 for vaccine lot release.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the call at the 8th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers’ Expo, jointly organised by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) and PGE Expo PVT Limited in Lagos.

Adeyeye said Nigeria had met eight of the nine requirements for regulatory benchmarking for medicines and vaccines, with vaccine lot release remaining the outstanding requirement for the agency to attain the next level of regulatory maturity.

She urged international partners, who had supported NAFDAC’s progress towards WHO Maturity Level 3, to extend their assistance to the establishment of modular vaccine manufacturing facilities, particularly for fill-and-finish operations.

‘We want to call on our international partners that have been of tremendous help. Without them, we wouldn’t have been here. I want to challenge them to contribute to fill-and-finish modular vaccine manufacturing so that we can get our vaccine lot release,’ she said.

The NAFDAC boss said the country had the technical and regulatory capacity to achieve Maturity Level 4, adding that the remaining requirements could be addressed through targeted investments in local vaccine manufacturing.

‘To get lot release, Maturity Level 4, we have figured it out in a way we have estimated. It’s not going to cost too much. We will share that with you because we cannot afford to go back to where we used to be,’ she said.

Adeyeye, who recalled that Nigeria previously had vaccine manufacturing capacity, said the country needed to revive local production to strengthen medicine security and reduce dependence on imported vaccines.

‘It’s high time we went back to vaccine manufacturing,’ she said.

She commended President Bola Tinubu for the 2024 Executive Order on incentives for local pharmaceutical manufacturers, saying it had helped address some of the longstanding challenges confronting the industry and accelerated efforts to unlock Nigeria’s pharmaceutical value chain.

‘I understand the stress our manufacturers are going through. Our manufacturers are patriots because they could have given up. I was championing incentives for the manufacturers until President Tinubu came on board with the Executive Order of 2024,’ she said.

Adeyeye said the policy intervention had brought greater recognition to the pharmaceutical industry and strengthened the government’s efforts to improve local manufacturing capacity.

She recalled that NAFDAC began its pharmaceutical manufacturing reform efforts with a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Roadmap, which involved a nationwide compliance audit of more than 165 companies, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the United States Pharmacopeia.

According to her, the initiative was designed to improve the quality of locally manufactured medicines, strengthen regulatory compliance and ensure better health outcomes for patients.

She said data from 2021 to 2025 showed that imports of products covered under the ‘5+5′ policy and the Ceiling Initiative had declined by 70 per cent, attributing the development to the increased capacity of local manufacturers to produce essential medicines.

Adeyeye said NAFDAC had also invested in improving the technical competence of its personnel to ensure effective regulation and sustain the quality of locally manufactured pharmaceutical products.

She noted that the agency became a member of the International Medical Device Regulators Forum in 2023, while its laboratory in Yaba, Lagos, attained WHO prequalification in September of the same year.

The NAFDAC director-general said the WHO’s Maturity Level 3 recognition was subject to continuous assessment and re-benchmarking to ensure that regulatory agencies maintained consistent standards.

She added that NAFDAC became the first regulatory agency in sub-Saharan Africa to successfully undergo re-benchmarking after attaining Maturity Level 3.

Adeyeye said the agency’s progress reflected the combined efforts of its personnel, local pharmaceutical manufacturers and the Nigerian public, stressing that regulatory agencies were assessed against the same international standards, irrespective of their countries’ economic status.

Earlier, the Chairman of PMG-MAN, Mr Oluwatosin Jolayemi, described the expo as a major platform for pharmaceutical manufacturing in Central and West Africa, bringing together manufacturers, regulators, investors, development partners and other stakeholders to explore investment opportunities and strengthen the industry.

Jolayemi, who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Daily Need Limited, commended Adeyeye for her commitment to improving pharmaceutical manufacturing standards and ensuring compliance with international GMP requirements.

He said NAFDAC’s policies were gradually transforming the pharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem but stressed the need to sustain the gains through consistent government support.

The PMG-MAN chairman called on the Federal Government to extend the 2024 Executive Order on pharmaceutical manufacturing incentives for another two years when it expires in March 2027.

He argued that achieving medicine security and pharmaceutical sovereignty required long-term interventions, policy consistency, sustained investment, capacity development and a predictable operating environment.

A total of 132 companies from Nigeria, the United States, China, Argentina, Egypt, India, Rwanda, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany and Indonesia, among others, participated in the two-day expo, which focused on strengthening pharmaceutical manufacturing and expanding international partnerships.

Nigerian filmmaker, Kenenna Obi, has explored the struggles of young Nigerians seeking better opportunities abroad through the Igbo cultural concept of ‘Ogbanje’ in his new short film.

The film, titled ‘Ogbanje,’ uses the recurring cycle associated with the traditional belief to depict how migration may not necessarily end the economic and personal challenges that drive young Nigerians out of the country.

Obi, a United Kingdom-based filmmaker, premiered the short film at the YSJ Auditorium in York, England, on September 25.

Speaking about the production, Obi said the film follows characters repeatedly attempting to escape obstacles represented by the Ogbanje concept while confronting the realities of starting life in the UK.

‘In Igbo cosmology, Ogbanje is a spirit that visits families in the form of a child, who begins and continues a cycle of life, dying and being reborn into the same family without attaining adolescence,’ he said.

The traditional belief was historically associated with repeated childhood deaths within families at a time when the medical causes of infant mortality were poorly understood.

The concept has also featured prominently in Nigerian literature, including works by celebrated novelist Chinua Achebe, as a representation of recurring death and grief.

Obi, however, adapted the mythology to examine a contemporary Nigerian experience, the increasing migration of young people abroad in search of better economic opportunities, popularly known as ‘japa.’

In the film, the characters attempt to leave behind the difficulties confronting them, only to encounter new challenges after relocating.

According to the filmmaker, the recurring struggles raise questions about whether changing countries necessarily provides an escape from the problems that prompted migration.

‘I wanted to explore what happens when you think you’ve escaped simply by moving to another country, only to discover that some things are not about geography,’ Obi said.

He explained that the film also examines the social and economic realities confronting young Nigerians abroad and the complexities associated with rebuilding their lives in unfamiliar environments.

The premiere attracted people from different cultural backgrounds, including audience members encountering the Ogbanje concept for the first time.

The Osun State Government has asked the Federal High Court, Lagos, to set aside an ex-parte order freezing the state’s accounts, alleging that Gamji Nigeria Company Limited concealed material facts from the court in obtaining the order.

The government is also challenging the enforcement of an arbitral award arising from a 2017 contract dispute with the company, which it said was inherited from the administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

In an application filed before the Federal High Court on October 2, 2026, the state government challenged the September 9 order, contending that it was procured without full disclosure of relevant facts surrounding the dispute.

The government further alleged that the arbitration award Gamji sought to enforce through the Federal High Court was itself characterised by irregularities and is already being challenged before the Lagos State High Court.

In a statement issued on Sunday by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the government said Gamji failed to disclose to the Federal High Court that Osun had commenced proceedings challenging the validity of the arbitral award.

According to the statement, the state had, since September 1, filed an action before the Lagos State High Court seeking to set aside the award and had also applied for an order suspending its execution pending the determination of the suit.

The government said Gamji and its legal representatives were duly served with the court processes but nevertheless approached the Federal High Court to enforce the award without disclosing the pending proceedings.

It also disputed the reference to a July 2024 arbitral award in connection with the September 9 order, insisting that no arbitral award was made against the state in July 2024.

The government said the only arbitral award against Osun was issued in July 2026 and that the award is currently being challenged before the Lagos State High Court.

It explained that the underlying contractual dispute originated in 2017 during the Oyetola administration following Gamji’s request for a variation of the contract, which was rejected by the state government.

The dispute subsequently proceeded to arbitration over Gamji’s claim that the state was indebted to the company to the tune of $15,982,638.22.

However, the Osun government alleged that the arbitration proceedings were conducted in a manner that denied the state fair hearing and full participation in the process, adding that the alleged irregularities formed part of the grounds of its challenge before the Lagos State High Court.

The government said its latest application before the Federal High Court was aimed at protecting the state’s right to due process and ensuring judicial review of the disputed award.

It added that it would continue to pursue all available legal avenues to secure the vacation of the account-freezing order, while refraining from commenting further on the substantive issues because the matter is currently before the courts.