Category: Nigerian Tribune

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has disclosed readiness to convene Women Stakeholders’ Summit scheduled for Monday, October 5, 2026, in Abuja.

The summit, to be convened by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is expected to bring together key women stakeholders from across the country as the APC prepares for the formal commencement of its 2027 presidential campaign activities.

Speaking with journalists on Saturday ahead of the event, the Director of the Women Mobilisation Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Betta Edu, said APC women were intensifying grassroots mobilisation with a target of 40 million women votes for President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

Edu described the summit as an important platform for strengthening the women’s mobilisation structure nationwide and commended the First Lady for convening the meeting.

According to her, the summit will also provide an opportunity to empower hundreds of women and further strengthen grassroots structures.

‘When we put our strength together and unite behind our President and his wife, victory is certain,’ she said.

Edu also commended state governors and their wives for supporting the participation of women stakeholders at the summit, noting that many delegates had already arrived in Abuja.

She stressed, however, that the Abuja summit was taking place alongside ongoing grassroots mobilisation across the country.

‘Most of the delegates from the states have already arrived in Abuja, and more are expected. But our community engagements and door-to-door mobilisation have continued across the country,’ she said.

Edu said the directorate’s grassroots strategy remained focused on sustaining engagement with women and households across communities, with the mobilisation structure covering 176,846 communities nationwide.

‘It is a 100-day sprint, and we will not relent until victory is achieved for President Tinubu. Our strength is in our numbers,’ she said.

As the whereabouts of the 19 NYSC members kidnapped in Imo remains unknown, a community leader of Azara-Obiator Autonomous Community, Chief Charles Obialor, has raised alarm.over persistent kidnapping incidents around the community.

Obialor told Nigerian Tribune in Owerri that the development was particularly disturbing because the area had witnessed security concerns in the past.

He said security operatives later moved into the area and began efforts to trace the abductors and locate their victims.

He appealed to the government and security agencies to do something about this place adding that the people are afraid and need security so that people can move freely and return safely to their homes.

The community leader attributed the blames on the vast stretches of undeveloped land and surrounding forests which according to him have made it easier for criminals to operate.

He called on the government as a matter of urgency to clear the bushes and establish a major project in the area to attract legitimate economic activities and increase security presence.

He said: ‘If the government wants to stop this, they should come here, clear the bushes and establish a gigantic project that will attract people to the area’.

Obialor alleged that some residents had abandoned their farmlands because of fear of attacks by suspected kidnappers and armed herders.

He said: ‘The government has no project here, no presence in the entire autonomous community. For two years, we have abandoned our farmlands because of fear of being killed by the Fulani herdsmen’.

Obialor disagreed with reports that the abductors took their victims to Ifekala bush, saying he suspected they could have been taken towards Alasieke Forest, which he described as difficult to access.

He said: ‘The place where I suspect they are keeping the victims is Alasieke Forest. It is a very dangerous area’.

Obialor disputed the police account that 10 of the victims had been rescued, insisting that 34 people were kidnapped while two others miraculously escaped.

He said he suspected that some of the remaining victims were still being held captive by the kidnappers.

He said: ‘We were here when we heard the sound of gunshots. It was in the morning, around 7am. Everybody became afraid because we did not know what was happening’.

According to him, the attackers operated around the highway before taking their victims into the bush, leaving residents and motorists confused and frightened.

THE future of Nigerian cinema was celebrated in Jos on Tuesday as student filmmakers gathered for the finale of the second European Union-National Film Institute (EU-NFI) Students Film Festival, where emerging directors, cinematographers, animators and documentary makers were recognised for their work.

The two-day festival, which ended on September 29 in Plateau State, was themed ‘Filmmaking in the Digital Age: A Techno-Creative Approach to Cultural Advocacy’.

Organised by the National Film Institute (NFI), Jos, in partnership with the European Union, it brought together screenings, masterclasses and competitions intended to develop the skills of a new generation of Nigerian filmmakers.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, the EU ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, praised the students for what he described as their storytelling prowess, saying their work pointed to a promising future for African cinema.

Mignot said the European Union remained committed to supporting youth creativity and skills development within Nigeria’s creative industries.

He also highlighted the National Film Institute’s role in training young Nigerians to turn their experiences and questions about their communities into stories for the screen.

‘I am pleased with this history-making institution, where young Nigerians are being equipped with the skills to become filmmakers and to transform their experiences, communities and questions into compelling stories,’ Mignot said.

He added that the festival reflected areas of EU engagement in Nigeria, including youth empowerment, education, culture, the creative industries, people-to-people exchanges and efforts to strengthen relations between the EU and Nigeria.

Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Ali Nuhu, described the festival as more than a showcase, arguing that the partnership demonstrated a shared commitment to creating opportunities for young Nigerians to develop their storytelling abilities.

‘A common vision drove the EU-NFI partnership; a shared mission; headed towards one destination; building strong, cross-border, and enduring cultural bridges,’ Nuhu said.

He also called for continued investment in skills development and learning opportunities for emerging filmmakers, pointing to the growing number of cultural advocates using film to tell stories about their communities and society.

Nuhu congratulated the winners and participants, saying their performances reflected the NFI’s training standards. He encouraged students to maintain professional standards and use film for personal and national development.

The awards covered a range of filmmaking disciplines. ‘Rev Kola’, by Osakpolo Authur, won Best Sound, while ‘Carrying a Legacy’, by Badung Chuhwak, took Best Documentary. ‘Coming Home’, by Habubu Risku, won Best Animation, and ‘Dusk Till Dawn’, by Longtong Tang’an, was named Best Cinematography.

Esther Onyinyechi Nnamani took two of the festival’s major prizes, winning Best Director and Best Short Film for ‘They Call Me Mother.’

Each of the six category winners received N100,000.

Rector of the National Film Institute, Prof Pomak Frank Tengya, said the institution was ready to host the festival again in 2027, signalling the organisers’ intention to establish the event as a continuing platform for student filmmakers.

The Ijaw Youth Network (IYN) has commended the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, for deploying 150 Niger Delta youths to universities across the United Kingdom for postgraduate studies.

The Ijaw youths body described the move as a demonstration of visionary leadership.

The group, in a statement on Sunday by its President, Frank Ebikabo, and Secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, also praised President Bola Tinubu for his steadfast support of the PAP, noting that the president’s backing has been historic and remains the driving force behind the programme’s unprecedented achievements under the current administration.

According to the IYN, it was reassuring to know that the latest batch of 150 beneficiaries participated in a pre-departure briefing led by Otuaro at the PAP headquarters in Abuja.

The deployment forms part of the programme’s 2026 offshore scholarship scheme. It brings the total number of postgraduate scholars the administrator has sent abroad this year to 243, following earlier batches of 93 students dispatched in January and May.

The latest beneficiaries will pursue specialised master’s degree programmes in fields including software engineering, cybersecurity, global public health, oil and gas engineering, law, fintech analytics, construction engineering management, forensic audit, and data science analytics.

‘Dr Otuaro has shown what purposeful leadership can achieve,’ the group said.

‘These young men and women will return as engineers, lawyers, analysts, health experts and technology professionals, ready to contribute to the growth and development of the Niger Delta and the nation.’

The IYN further commended the scholarship scheme designed to bridge the human capital development deficit in the Niger Delta, sustain peace and stability in the region, and equip young people with globally competitive skills.

‘As key observers in the Niger Delta, we have noted that the tremendous support this programme enjoys from the Federal Government under President Tinubu and is ably supervised by the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

‘The scholars reportedly received brand-new laptops during orientation to support their academic work’, the statement added.

The group also called on the people of the Niger Delta to reciprocate President Tinubu’s commitment to the region with electoral support in the 2027 general elections.

According to them, it is impotant for the Niger Delta to appreciate the President and his team with unflinching electoral support.

The group pledged to mobilise its members and networks across the region in favour of the president’s continued leadership.

IYN said, ‘The President has stood firmly with the Niger Delta and with the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and he has stood by the Administrator as he delivers these wonderful results.

‘It is only proper that the people of the region repay this steadfastness with their support at the polls in 2027. We pledge to mobilise for him.’

The organisation described the sustained investment in education and skills development under the PAP as a critical pathway to lasting peace and economic empowerment in the oil-producing region.

A Chief Magistrate’s Court in Imo State has granted Peace Jonah N500,000 bail after she was arraigned by the police for allegedly inflicting grievous harm on a 14-year-old girl, Chilaka Osinachi.

Jonah was arraigned on Friday on a one-count charge of assault following her arrest by operatives of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Owerri, in August.

The arrest followed a petition written against her by a human rights organisation, Stand For Humanity Foundation.

Arraigning the suspect, the police prosecutor, Sampson Obodo, told the court that Jonah allegedly poured boiling water on the minor’s breasts and other parts of her body, causing her grievous harm.

Obodo said the alleged act was punishable under Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, as applicable in Imo State, and urged the court to remand the suspect in custody.

Counsel to Jonah, Innocent Onyekwere, however, urged the court to grant his client bail.

In his ruling, Chief Magistrate C.J. Nkwoada granted the suspect N500,000 bail, subject to conditions including the deposition of recent passport photographs and verification of the residential address of her surety.

The charge sheet read: ‘That you Peace Jonah on the 21 day of August, 2026, at Umuamadi Nguru Mbaise, triable in the Ngor Okpala Magisterial district did unlawfully assault one Chilaka Osinachi by pouring on her hot water on her belly and her breasts which caused her grievous harm and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 355 of the criminal code Cap C38 laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004 as applicable in Imo State of Nigeria.’

In a statement issued in Owerri on Sunday, the President of Stand For Humanity Foundation, Chidiebube Okeoma, said the organisation remained committed to fighting all forms of child abuse in the state.

Okeoma, a journalist and child rights advocate, said the alleged use of boiling water on the girl constituted a criminal offence.

He stressed that the granting of bail did not amount to an exoneration, assuring that the organisation would follow the proceedings to their logical conclusion.

According to him, the aim was to ensure that the outcome of the case served as a deterrent to others who abuse children.

Okeoma said the organisation became aware of the alleged abuse through its whistleblowing policy.

He urged members of the public to continue reporting cases of child abuse to the organisation and relevant authorities.

With just days to go, all is set for the 11th edition of the Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS), as innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, technology leaders, researchers, business executives and development stakeholders from Nigeria and around the world prepare to converge in Lagos to explore how AI and emerging technologies can accelerate development across Africa.

Themed ‘Innovating in the Age of AI,’ the 2026 Summit will hold on Tuesday, October 6, at Shell Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos. The hybrid summit will provide both physical and virtual participation opportunities.

At the heart of NIS 2026 will be conversations around the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. One of the major panel sessions, ‘AI for Africa: Transforming Education, Agriculture and Healthcare at Scale,’ will examine how AI can be applied to address some of Africa’s most pressing development challenges and expand access to better services, knowledge and opportunities.

Another major conversation, ‘Building Trusted AI for Africa: Policy, Regulation, Data Governance, and Investment for the Future,’ will focus on the frameworks, safeguards, investments and partnerships required to develop and deploy AI responsibly across the continent.

The summit will also explore the broader implications of AI for business transformation, entrepreneurship, digital infrastructure, innovation policy, research commercialisation, inclusion and the future of work.

NIS 2026 will feature an impressive line-up of public-sector leaders, technology executives, entrepreneurs, innovators and global thought leaders.

Among the distinguished speakers listed for the summit are Engr. Rasheed O. Ojulari, Chief Innovation Officer, NNPC Limited, Research, Technology and Innovation; Jara Pascual, CEO, Collabwith; Nelson T. Ajulo, CEO/CTO and Co-Founder, MyHives; Ngozi Aderibigbe, Partner, Gray and Silicon Legal Advisors; Michael Pepper, AI Systems and Personal Branding Strategist; Kevin Eze, Founder, SounDisruptr and African Food Network; Bisola Fasanya, Founder, Atel Q; and Ademola Osindero, Founder, Stackchase Limited.

Also featured are Olufunke Olufon, Founder/Principal Consultant, Iwà Consulting; Toyosi Badejo-Okusanya, CEO/Founder, Adaptive Atelier; Bharat Kundra, Programme Specialist, GenU 9JA, UNICEF Nigeria; Dr. Goodluck Nnorom, Strategic Leadership Researcher and Entrepreneur; Engr. Alex Omaghomi, Group CEO, Zilex Holdings and Hostplace Group; and other leading voices from across Africa’s innovation ecosystem.

The breadth of the speaker line-up reflects the summit’s focus on bringing together different perspectives around the intersection of technology, innovation, business, policy and development.

NIS 2026 highlights include insightful presentations by thought leaders and industry experts; Nigeria Innovation Experience Talks (NiX Talks) – a series of focused, high-impact presentations from innovators challenging the status quo; Exhibitions and product demonstrations; innovation showcases, providing opportunities for innovators and organisations to demonstrate solutions; networking sessions connecting entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, businesses and ecosystem stakeholders; and Innovation Tours, offering selected delegates an opportunity to experience innovative organisations and technology environments.

The summit will climax with the 2026 Nigeria Innovation Awards, a major highlight of NIS designed to recognise outstanding individuals, organisations and initiatives contributing to Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.

The awards will bring together business leaders, innovators, government representatives, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to celebrate innovation and recognise contributions that are helping to advance technology, enterprise and development in Nigeria.

According to Tony Ajah, Programme Director, Nigeria Innovation Summit, the 2026 edition comes at an important moment as AI increasingly reshapes industries, businesses and societies.

‘This year we will explore how AI and emerging technologies can accelerate national development, transform industries, improve public services, strengthen businesses, and create new opportunities for millions of Africans. AI is not just a tool; it’s a seed. And those who recognise it early, plant it wisely, and harness its surplus will rise.’

Ajah added, ‘As a nation blessed with a youthful population, entrepreneurial spirit, and abundant talent, Nigeria has an opportunity to become not just a consumer of AI technologies but a creator of solutions that address local challenges and compete globally.’

Attendance at the summit is free, but registration is required for physical participation.

The summit will also be available virtually, enabling participants beyond Lagos and Nigeria to join the conversations.

MR Tony Elumelu, on Saturday, revealed how he began his enviable career by starting on a job he was not qualified for.

The chairman of Heirs Holdings disclosed this in a post on his X account @TonyOElumelu, on Saturday.

Writing on how he started, the billionaire businessman said: ‘I started my career in a job I wasn’t qualified for. Someone took a chance on me. Everything I have built since has been to repay it. I was lucky. But luck should not be the only way an African talent gets a chance.’

He did not end there. He also offered quality advice to the youth about undertaking challenges just as he touched on the involvement of Africa in the global race for artificial intelligence.

According to him, the problem is not the lack of talent but about critical infrastructure like electricity.

‘The constraint is not talent. It is electricity. We leapfrogged landlines with mobile. We will not leapfrog electricity, Elumelu said.

He urged African countries to address their electricity challenges to avoid missing out on the derivable opportunities of digital economy.

‘My closing advice: To the youth in the room: start before you are qualified. I did,’ he wrote, drawing attention to how that decision birthed multibillion Naira investments.

The University of Ilorin has emerged as Nigeria’s number one university in research quality in the just-released Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

It scored 69.4 per cent, the highest among Nigerian universities ranked this year.

The latest ranking result was released last Wednesday at the World Academic Summit hosted by the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

A statement by the University’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Kunle Akogun, said that the ranking assesses universities on five pillars such as teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook and industry.

The statement quoted the University Ranking Implementation Project Manager, Professor Suleiman Folorunso Ambali, as saying that ‘research quality is UNILORIN’s strongest turf, and that the university aims to convert it into wider international recognition and work towards the 801-1000 band in the next edition’.

According to the university’s spokesperson, an analysis of the results shows that the University of Ilorin has been ‘lifted from the 1201-1500 band in 2026 into the 1001-1200 world band’.

‘Our University is now one of the seven Nigerian universities in the global top 1,200″, Mr. Akogun said, adding that UNILORIN is ahead of the University of Lagos, Bayero University, Kano and the University of Ibadan on quality research, which carries 30% of the overall score and measures how widely a university’s research is cited by scholars worldwide.’

Reacting to the development, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole (SAN), said that ‘this outcome is not accidental but a reflection of years of patient, disciplined scholarship by colleagues who publish work that the world reads and cites.

The Vice Chancellor thanked every lecturer, researcher, postgraduate supervisor and student whose work contributed to the positive rankings of the university.

The management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, has expressed anguish and concern over the reported abduction of prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to their orientation camps.

This was contained in a statement by the university in response to reports and police confirmation that prospective corps members and other passengers were abducted after two buses travelling from Ibadan were attacked along the Owerri-Onitsha Road.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu, said in the statement issued by the institution’s Public and Alumni Relations Unit that the university is particularly distressed by reports that at least three of its graduates, including graduates of Food Science and Physiology, are among those reportedly abducted in the October 1 incident.

In the statement, Prof. Kalilu said: ‘The University stands firmly with the affected families at this deeply distressing moment.

‘This is a painful and deeply troubling development for the University and, most importantly, for the families of our graduates and the other young Nigerians whose lives have been so cruelly disrupted. Our immediate and overriding concern is their safety and safe return to their families.’

The Vice-Chancellor called on security and other relevant agencies to intensify coordinated efforts to locate and secure the safe release of all the abducted prospective corps members and other passengers.

‘Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, remains in solidarity with the families. We are praying and hoping for the safe return of our graduates and every other victim,’ the Vice-Chancellor said, adding that the university would continue to monitor developments and maintain appropriate communication with relevant authorities and affected families.

The former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Dr Samson Ayokunle, has told Nigerian politicians that, regardless of their antics and aspirations to rule Nigeria in 2007, citizens will survive.

Ayokunle spoke to journalists in Ibadan on Friday, October 2, 2026 against the backdrop of electioneering for who becomes the president in 2027.

At the 10th anniversary of the Oritamefa Baptist Model School Cambridge A-Level College, Reverend Ayokunle charged Nigerians to persevere through the current challenges facing them.

‘What God revealed to me is that whatsoever is happening in this nation, Nigeria, we will survive, and His will alone will prevail. That’s why we don’t give up on this nation, Nigeria.

Reiterating the need to persevere, Ayokunle explained that ‘In fact, anyone that has given up doesn’t need to be in this country anymore. We see the future, which God take away from men and give to all of us in this country by Himself’.

Proffering solutions to the insecurity in Nigeria, the former CAN President asserted that determined leadership is the way to go.

The solution to the insecurity in Nigeria is more determined Leadership. The time that the leaders are no more complicit in insecurity, that time Nigerians will breathe a sigh of relief.’

Joining many voices on the state of the nation, especially in relation to people’s livelihoods, Reverend Ayokunle, who resisted the urge to rate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, however, lamented that Nigerians are hungry.

‘Well, I’m not his assessor; the masses are his assessors, but let us speak the truth: there is hunger in the land; the cost of living is too high.

‘Well, it is good that the subsidy was removed, but what’s the average earnings of Nigerians when we removed the subsidy, as it’s removed elsewhere? We are planning towards the same mind the same explore but do we pay the same salary, do we pay the minimum wage that’s paid in America, in UK and elsewhere?

‘What we are paying will deepen the complication of the devaluation in naira has thrown workers into abject poverty.’

Ayokunle also declared that ‘it is very difficult for Nigerians to breathe economically and this is what a serious government, a government that will not play politics with the lives of the people, must address’.

During his OBMS A-Level Cambridge Anniversary lecture, Rev. Dr. Remi Awopegba, the recently retired church pastor and visionary behind the College, spoke about the institution’s journey and its future.

He emphasised the importance for students to cultivate a global perspective while upholding high standards of excellence.

Awopegba encouraged students not to let their environment or background limit their aspirations. He urged them to adopt a global outlook and maintain high standards in whatever situations they encounter.

‘Never let your environment or your background limit your vision. Neither permit discouragement from the experiences of others to deter you. Start where you are, but think global,’ he said.

According to him, the vision behind the establishment of the college was to produce students capable of competing beyond their immediate environment.

In his remarks, the Director of the College, Deacon Clement Oke, said the contemporary world does not require teaching younger ones only academic capability; capacity building of the students is also important, noting that the College has embraced this right from the beginning.