Category: The Nation – Nigeria

Imo state-born para Tennis sensation, Chituru Nwaozuzu is excited after winning two Tennis competitions in Lagos and hoping to make it a hat trick of triumphs when she takes part in the CBN Tennis Tournament which serves off today also in Lagos.

Nwaozuzu won the VEMP Tennis Championship beating Chika Enwerem in the final in straight sets of 6-2, 6-1 before adding Devnotch Tennis Championship to her collection a few days later.

The multiple National Sports Festival Medallists told NationSport that she was motivated to attend the championships by the Imo State Commissioner for Sports, Honourable Obinna Onyeocha who ensured she attended the competitions along with Vivian Ozurumba whom she beat in the semi-final 6-1, 6-2 at the Devnotch Championship, and Immaculate Achuluiwu.

‘I am more than happy to win both competitions because I didn’t train much coming to the competitions but my willpower to win and sheer determination to succeed saw me through,’ Nwaozuzu told NationSport.

‘I have won two already and I am still going for the third which starts tomorrow (today). I am ready to give my all to ensure I win.’

Meanwhile, Imo State Sports Commissioner, Hon. Obinna Onyeocha, has challenged athletes with special abilities from the state to aim for excellence at their ongoing championship in Lagos.

Onyeocha, who praised their determination, assured them of the government’s continued support.

He thumbed up the performance of Nwaozuzu who has already won two championships and gunning for the third.

Amid the prevailing economic hardship and social uncertainty in the country, First Baptist Church, Ikeja has launched annual Moments of Gratitude programme, designed to inspire hope and strengthen resilience through thanksgiving.

The event, which runs every Sunday throughout October, features gospel music, testimonies and cultural expressions.

The organisers said the month-long celebration was aimed at helping people focus on God’s mercies and finding encouragement despite life’s challenges.

Host pastor, Rev. Kolawole Ogokunle, said the church decided to dedicate October to gratitude as a reminder of God’s blessings in families, careers and businesses.

‘Our decision to dedicate October to gratitude comes from looking at our lives and seeing God’s mercy,’ he said. ‘This year’s celebration is both thanksgiving and a prayer for more testimonies.’

The festival will feature performances by Prevailers Voices, Tobi Akuraku, Lilian Nneji and the Prevailers Praise Team, while the final Sunday will be marked with a cultural thanksgiving service, allowing participants to celebrate their faith and heritage.

Church Secretary, Oluleye Ademola, in a statement, noted that the services would also be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube to accommodate those unable to attend physically.

‘Gratitude is more than just saying thanks; it is fuel for future,’ Rev. Ogokunle said. ‘It gives us strength to keep moving forward in our families, our work and our daily struggles.’

The newly inaugurated leadership of the Lagos Secretariat Community Central Mosque (LSCCM), Alausa, has pledged to deepen stakeholder engagement, enhance religious facilities, and expand community-driven programmes to foster harmony and development.

Speaking after his swearing-in for a second term, LSCCM Chairman, Abdulhafis Toriola, who is also the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Housing, assured worshippers of the leadership’s commitment to sustaining the mosque’s legacy.

He noted that the mosque leadership will continue to assess areas for improvement, while emphasizing regular training for Imams to enhance the quality of sermons.

‘Our message to the Muslim community is to continue to believe in Allah, obey His rules, and be good ambassadors of Islam,’ he said.

LSCCM vice chairman and chairman of Shamsideen Adisa Mosque, Dr. Ismail AbdusSalam, stated the need for unity and financial support from the Muslim community.

‘This is a call to serve Allah, and we cannot do it alone. We need cooperation in the form of prayers, financial support, and active participation in our projects. With this, we can harmonise the community and achieve the objectives of the mosque,’ he stated.

He urged Muslims to remain steadfast, contribute to the mosque’s programmes, and continue to pray for the leadership so that ‘Allah accepts our efforts as an act of worship.’

LSCCM Women Affairs Secretary, Hajia Jelilat Abdulhamid, said the mosque runs a weekly women’s forum that provides spiritual guidance, vocational training, and counselling services.

Hajia Abdulhamid, who is the Deputy Director at the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), added that the forum addresses the needs of single sisters by providing platforms for marital connections, educational sponsorship programmes, and supporting young women, some of whom are currently in universities.

‘We need upright women to nurture children and strengthen families. Our society can only thrive if women return to their primary roles of building the home and raising responsible children,’ she said.

The Oyo State House of Assembly has appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde to fulfill the promise of releasing N500 million to the Abiola Ajimobi Technical University in 2024.

The lawmakers also urged the governor to begin monthly subvention payments to the university from January 2026 to sustain its academic operations.

The resolutions followed a motion sponsored by Hon. Oluwafemi Fowokanmi, representing Ibadan South West Constituency 2 and Chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, and seconded by Hon. Babajide Adebayo of Ibadan North Constituency 2.

Fowokanmi noted that the institution is battling inadequate funding for infrastructure, staff welfare, and academic operations, relying mainly on scholarships, internally generated revenue, and TETFUND grants.

He commended Governor Makinde for inaugurating the university’s Governing Council, describing it as a step towards securing proper state funding for the institution.

ýHe disclosed that since the announcement of the sum of N500 million in 2024 by the government, the money has not been released.

ýThe lawmaker added that the financial burden of the institution has increased with the announcement and approval new minimum wage, which has made the institution start taking bank loans to meet staff payments and other financial responsibilities.

ýAlso speaking on the motion, the lawmaker representing Egbeda state constituency and Chairman, House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Sunkanmi Babalola, appreciated the efforts of the present administration on the university in terms of road network, perimeter fence, and street lights, which he said have contributed to its physical outlook.

ýEmphasising the recent achievements recorded by the institution at the global stage, the lawmaker said that the release of funds and their inclusion in the monthly subvention would give the university the ability to expand its facilities, retain qualified personnel, and provide wider admission opportunities.

ýWhile toeing the same line with the mover of the motion and Hon. Babalola on the call inclusion of the institution in the monthly subvention payment, like other state-owned tertiary institutions, Hon. Babajide Adebayo also called for the audit of the institution’s account.

ýPassing the resolutions, the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, granted the request by the mover of the motion, Hon. Fowokanmi, to allow the House Committee on Tertiary Education to meet with the management of the university.

ýHon. Ogundoyin clarified that the purpose of the engagement is to ensure proper audit of the institution’s account, its internally generated revenue, and other financial records, as well as other challenges confronting it.

ýThe Speaker noted that the steps will give the House the lead on how to further intervene and provide legislative support on behalf of the institution.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher G. Musa, has tasked Nigeria’s security forces with identifying and eliminating criminal elements destabilising the country and the wider Sahel region.

Speaking as the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of Exercise Haske Biyu, a joint security training organised by the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, Musa said peace in Nigeria and the Sahel can only be achieved by decisively removing such threats.

‘At the end of the day, the only thing we must do is to look for the bad guys and take them out. That is the only way we can have peace,’ he declared.

The CDS cautioned that the crisis in the Sahel is escalating, stressing that the enemies confronting Nigeria disregard national borders, making unilateral responses ineffective.

‘If we hold on to our borders alone, we will continue to suffer. But if we unite and work across, it makes it better,’ he said, urging stronger regional cooperation and joint operations.

Musa cited the Multinational Joint Task Force in Chad as an example of how neighbouring nations can operate collectively ‘as brothers’ to root out insurgents exploiting porous frontiers.

He linked military action to community engagement, insisting security forces cannot succeed without the cooperation of citizens who must deny criminals safe havens.

‘Once communities deny these elements the ability to stay, they will not be able to stand,’ Musa told participants, stressing that civil-military synergy is vital to sustainable gains.

The CDS also highlighted the role of the media in shaping public perception, praising journalists for educating Nigerians on the objectives and progress of security operations.

‘When perception is wrong, anything you are doing will be perceived as being wrong. So the media is critical,’ he said, thanking reporters for sustained, constructive coverage.

Musa urged personnel to remain professional and resist corruption and partisan influence, warning that money and politics could undermine operations against armed groups.

‘The only thing we must do is to look for the bad guys and take them out,’ he reiterated, charging officers to execute their mandate without fear or favour.

Closing his address, General Musa charged participants to convert the training’s outcomes into ‘solution-driven action’, stressing that relentless pursuit of criminals in cooperation with neighbours, communities and the media, is the surest route to lasting peace.

Earlier in his welcome address, Commandant of AFCSC, Air Vice Marshal Hassan Idris Alhaji, said Haske Biyu 2025, the largest exercise the college has held, deliberately adopted the theme Family and National Security to reconnect social cohesion with national defence.

He warned that weak families and fractured communities create fertile ground for radicalism and criminality, and urged trainees to translate lessons learned into community-focused action on return to their formations.

The presence and representation of high-level dignitaries at the exercise underscored the national importance of the event and the need for an all-of-society approach to security, the Commandant said.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Thursday warned that uncertainty over the legal framework for the 2027 general election could unsettle the commission’s preparations.

Speaking while receiving a delegation of the European Union Election Observation follow-up mission to Nigeria, Yakubu appealed to the National Assembly to expedite action on the electoral reform proposal currently before it.

He said, ‘Election is a process governed by law. Many of your recommendations require the review of our electoral laws. For this reason, the Commission had interfaced with our National Assembly, including a retreat with the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters (Senate and House of Representatives).

‘We appeal to the National Assembly for an expeditious consideration of the electoral reform proposal. An early passage of law is critical to our planning for the elections. Uncertainty over the legal framework for the election can unsettle the work of the Commission as election draws nearer.’

The INEC boss said, ‘this is the third time that the present Commission is receiving such a mission. I recall that in 2017, we received Mr. Santiago Fisas who led the EU Election Observation to Nigeria’s 2015 General Election. Similarly, in 2022 we hosted Maria Arena who led the EU Election Observation Mission to Nigeria in 2019. Today, we are glad to receive Mr. Barry Andrews who led the EU Mission to the 2023 General Election.

‘In 2019, the EU EOM made 30 recommendations out of which 11 were specifically addressed to INEC. Three of them were identified as priority recommendations while 8 were categorised as general.

‘By comparison, your 2023 report made 23 recommendations out of which 8 (34.8%) require action by INEC of which only one recommendation was listed as priority. The remaining 15 (65.2%) recommendations, of which five were categorised as priority, require action by other entities in the executive, legislature and the judiciary as well as political parties and multiple stakeholders such as civil society organisations, the media and professional bodies.

‘The Commission has carefully considered all the 8 recommendations specifically addressed to us in your report. Action has been taken on aspects of the recommendations that only require administrative action to implement.

‘Similarly, action is being taken on cross-cutting recommendations that require collective action between INEC and other bodies and stakeholders while waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing legal review by the National Assembly on the recommendations that require legislative intervention.

‘To this end, the Commission has prepared a detailed response on each one of your direct observations which we shared with you at this meeting. If time permits, we can go over each of the recommendations seriatim.

‘I must also add that your recommendations, along with similar reports from other national and international election observers, were the subject of wide-ranging consultations with critical institutions and stakeholders during our own review of the 2023 General Election.

‘The review report contains 142 recommendations for electoral reform. In addition, the Commission has published our main 2023 General Election report over a year ago. The two reports are available from our website.

‘We look forward to the next EU EOM for the 2027 General Election. As you are aware, international Election Observation Missions are deployed on the invitation of the Commission. I want to reassure that we will continue to engage with you.

‘Very soon the Commission will send out invitations to the EU as well as the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS for the 2027 General Election. We believe that the recommendations arising from your observation of our election and electoral process help to improve the quality of our elections and electoral activities.’

The head of the delegation, Barry Andrews said the mission was pleased with the implementation of their recommendations from the 2023 general elections, but insisted that Nigeria must move beyond half-measures and guarantee transparency if democracy is to survive.

He said election observation is not about interference; it is about strengthening democracy in Nigeria, in Africa, and across the world.

He warned that reforms in the judiciary, administration, and constitution remain too slow, with transparency in result publication still unresolved.

Minister of Works David Umahi said that President Bola Tinubu has ordered continuation of all road projects previously funded by the NNPCL tax credit.

Umahi, who acknowledged funding challenges following the suspension of the NNPC tax credit funding, said President Tinubu remained focused on delivering durable roads despite criticism from some quarters.

The NNPCL, in 2021, launched the first phase of funding road projects with N621.24bn for the reconstruction of 21 roads across the six geopolitical zones.

Roads affected were the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa/Bokani Junction Road (Sections I and II) in Kwara and Niger States, the Suleja-Minna Road, and emergency repairs along Mokwa-Makera-Tegina toward the Kaduna state border.

Checks showed that in 2023, the NNPCL got approval to invest N1.9 trillion in the reconstruction of 44 federal roads including the East-West Road, the Port Harcourt-Onne Junction upgrade, the Eket bypass, and the construction of the Nembe-Brass Road in Bayelsa State.

Umahi, who was accompanied by Governor Monday Okpebholo, spoke in Benin City during an inspection of the Benin-Warri dual carriageway bypass.

Umahi announced that President Tinubu has approved that the 100-kilometre stretch of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway pass through Edo State.

Edo was not originally included in the highway’s alignment.

Other States benefitting from the project include Lagos (100km), Ogun and Ondo (82km), Akwa Ibom (65km), and Cross River (27km).

Umahi said: ‘Mr. President has directed that 100 kilometres by two lanes of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway must now pass through Edo. This is a special gift to the people of Edo.

‘But the President, impressed by your governor’s commitment to infrastructure, insisted that the state must benefit. It’s a reward for loyalty, leadership, and performance.’

He said Tinubu’s road projects were designed with reinforced concrete technology to last between 50 and 100 years

He said the appalling condition of federal roads in Edo State was tragic and unacceptable.

He commended President Tinubu for his swift intervention and commitment to reversing decades of infrastructural decay, saying no motorist could travel 100 kilometres on federal roads nationwide without encountering major challenges.

‘President Tinubu met an overwhelming situation in terms of roads and bridges. You can’t travel 100 kilometres on federal roads without encountering serious difficulties. But the President is showing resolve, and Nigerians are already commending his efforts.’

The Minister commended Governor Okpebholo for intervening in critical failed portions of the Benin-Warri highway after the termination of a contract earlier awarded to Levante Construction Company under the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme.

He explained that Levante executed only four kilometres of reinforced concrete pavement in stable sections of the road, neglecting the worst segments despite repeated warnings.

Umahi further appealed to Governor Okpebholo to extend his intervention to an additional nine kilometres, praising his willingness to collaborate.

‘The contract was terminated after months of delay and poor work. We appealed to Governor Okpbholo to take over the first 23 kilometres, which he promptly awarded to CBC. The quality of their work is commendable.’

I have written many times deprecating the phenomenon of African heads of state or government rushing in and out of major metropolitan centres like London, Paris, Washington, Beijing, Tokyo and others to provide them comic relief and inviting African heads of government or state to come and make serious people laugh at their penury and global jamboree. It will soon be New Delhi, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow and any global power that needs funny African rulers wearing what to them looks funny.

Recently 52 or so African heads of state and government assembled as they do annually in Beijing to meet With President Xi Jinping in a one-way dialogue in which the Chinese are presented with a list of requests on developmental projects spanning civil and military spheres of life. Most of the African countries are already indebted to China and they are not really in positions of serious binary negotiations. Sometimes, the African countries are just like Oliver Twist asking for more and more without understanding Chinese oriental mentality of asking for their last pint of blood from them and their children when their loans mature.

Orientals are generally not in the habit of forgiving creditors their debts. It is not just in their character and I am afraid that Africans will in future learn to their own detriment that the Chinese like other Orientals are incredible taskmasters not because they are wicked but because it is in their blood. There is no free lunch anywhere in the world! Whatever loans the Chinese are giving out now will be collected with interest in future or assets will be seized when the debtors are not able to pay. The experience of Sri Lanka which took generous Chinese loans for the development and modernisation of their ports and when they could not pay the Chinese simply seized the ports in lieu of the money owed.

I hope the African states will open their eyes when taking Chinese loans or any loans at all because they are not grants. Many of the projects the Chinese funded like the TANZAM railways running from Zambia to Tanzania built between 1970 and 1975 as the ‘UHURU RAILWAY’ is now not running and is virtually out of commission and has gone into a state of almost total disrepair and is being repaired with another loan of $1 billion provided by the Chinese. In our own case in Nigeria, the Kaduna- Abuja railway has been rendered hors de combat because of terrorists attack and bureaucratic thefts and it thus cannot pay its way. The Lagos-Ibadan railway is hardly a tale of success and the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport in Abuja runs fitfully and not always and only God knows the fate of the Kano-Katsina-Zinder railway all built with Chinese money. The intercity railway in Lagos stands as a case of success if the bureaucratic shenanigans and corruption are minimized.

The problem of these railways is that only sections are complete. For example the Lagos – Ibadan railway is the southern portion of the line going to Kano. Without its completion, it can hardly be expected to pay its way.

We also have the problem of Nigerians not willing to pay for infrastructural modernisation because they think government owes them a living! Toll roads and bridges are objects of protest and damage in Nigeria whereas in the civilised parts of the world, people are made to pay for new roads, railways and other means of modern transportation and communication. There is a need for civic education to inculcate into our people the primary responsibility of citizens to pay tax. Bill Gates on a recent visit to Nigeria pointed out that Nigerians do not pay taxes. Of course, it is generally known that only salary earners pay taxes while business people hardly pay taxes no matter how wealthy they are. They simply bribe their ways through. The complaint is that taxes are routinely stolen.

I am afraid we have come to a point in our country when we have to put our feet down and say no more stealing and police the state to prevent arrant looting after all, thieves are people not spirits. If we are serious we can do it. China that we run with begging hats and plates in hand to was one of the most corrupt societies in the world. China and India used to struggle with each other about which country was worse than the other until China of Mao Tsetung decided to deal brutally with any rogue pilfering from state coffers. Anyone pilfering was met by bullets. People sat up and this severe retribution continues till today.

Until we do this, corruption will continue until it destroys this country. The China we all run to borrow money was within my lifetime abjectly poor until the Chinese revolution in 1949. The country continued to engage in life and death struggle with poverty until Deng Xiaoping took power and ruled the country between 1978 and 1989 and completely transformed the country from being in the backwoods of development in the world into what it is today as the second most powerful country in the world, second to the United States and on the cusp of overtaking it in the next decade or two, all things being equal. The phenomenal development of China within a living memory should be what our people should try to emulate. Borrowing money and opening our markets to all kind of junks was not the Chinese way to development. The way the Chinese mobilised its huge population for development should be an example which a country like Nigeria should follow rather than importing all kinds of Chinese goods into our country.

Instead of wasting our time and the little money we have on constitutional debates and writing and rewriting our constitution, we should take our ploughs, hoes and cutlasses and go to farms with the aim of not only feeding ourselves but the rest of the world as Americans do.

I am opposed to all the presidents of Africa queuing up in foreign countries to beg for assistance when we are endowed with available land, sunshine, water, air, minerals underneath the earth and flowing water that can be harnessed for hydroelectricity. It is not just the humiliation in Beijing that I am opposed to; I am also opposed to all African presidents going to Paris as begging children every year for France – Africa powwow. The same goes for the similar phenomenon in London, Washington, Tokyo, in New Delhi, Berlin with Madrid and who knows when even puny Lisbon will follow.

These African rulers will fly in their executive jets costing millions of dollars to purchase, to beg for money which is sometimes not up to the cost of their planes. We are told that the Chinese is sharing $50 billion among the 52 African states assembled in Beijing. This means some of these presidents would go home with less than $1 billion when prorated. It just doesn’t make sense when the monarch of Britain, heads of state and government in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy rents planes from their national airlines when they want to fly and make an impression. No one can begrudge the United States, Russia and even France for using executive personalised aircraft’s for their trips abroad, after all, they make them and can afford them without borrowing or breaking the backs of their people to buy them

If there is need for all African countries to meet with these powerful countries for assistance, let the OAU decide that as from now onwards, African ambassadors would represent their countries in bilateral relations one on one and if they have to be met as a collective, there should be no problem and for the countries that have no ambassadors in these major capitals, they should be represented by neighbouring countries’ ambassadors or those of regional organisations like Economic Community of West Africa – ECOWAS or SADC or such regional bodies. This annual jamborees reminds me of what the late President George Walker Bush said about such International jamborees. He said the smaller countries speak longer than the bigger and more important participants representing important countries and that their long speeches are simply ignored. I hope this is not the case with these African jamborees simply providing comic relief for the government leaders of busy and serious countries!

First Lady Mrs Oluremi Tinubu yesterday urged Nigerians to play their part in building the country of their dreams.

She stressed that no sacrifice made in the service of the nation will be in vain.

In her Independence Day goodwill message to mark the nation’s 65th anniversary, the First Lady said every citizen has a role to play in shaping the future of the country.

‘Let us all play our part to build a Nigeria we all want to see. Your sacrifice will never be in vain. Happy 65th Independence Anniversary. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria’, she said.

Mrs. Tinubu underscored the importance of patriotism and selflessness, drawing inspiration from global and historical figures who had urged citizens to put national service above personal gain.

Quoting Gebran Kalil Gebran’s 1925 essay, The New Frontier, she observed: ‘Are you a politician, asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one, asking what you can do for your country? If you are the first, then you are a parasite, if the second, then you are an oasis in a desert.’

She also recalled the famous words of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who in his 1961 inaugural address urged citizens to ask what they could do for their country and, collectively, for humanity.

Mrs. Tinubu said the celebration of Nigeria at 65 should not merely be about looking back but about committing afresh to the hard work of national development.

The rush and craze for university admission among youths is no less encouraging. Many students see it as avenue to upgrade their status, others see it as an opportunity for learning and new experience. For some it is an opportunity to be certificated in certain fields, and start earning through knowledge gain. However, once they start rounding off their course of study, it is not uncommon for students to start thinking of the next thing.

Speaking to CAMPUS LIFE, Amuwa Olufemi, a 400-Level student, at Redeemer’s University, said: ‘After graduation, I plan to focus on my automobile business

I’ve always been passionate about cars, and I’m excited to build a business that will make a lasting impact on the industry and provide exceptional services to my customers.

‘I want to be my own boss and create something from scratch, I’m excited to take the risks and challenges that come with starting a business, and I’m confident that with hard work and determination, I can achieve my goals.

I also believe that my business will be successful because I’m passionate about cars and I’m committed to providing excellent customer service.’

Omowumi Olawale, an HND 2 student, at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) said after completing her studies, she planned to further her education.

‘I believe that education is key to unlocking my full potential, and I’m determined to achieve my goals and make a positive impact in my field.

‘I’ve always been interested in learning new things, and I believe that education is a lifelong process, and I’m excited to continue learning and growing.

‘I want to use my skills and knowledge to make a difference in the world, and I’m excited to contribute to my community and help others achieve their goals.

‘I believe that furthering my education will give me the opportunity to achieve my goals and make a positive impact in my field,’ she said.

Esther Emedom, a 400-Level student, at Caleb University, Lagos, said: ‘I plan to start up a small business. I want to be my own boss and create something from scratch.

I’ve always been interested in business, and I believe that starting my own business will give me the freedom and flexibility to pursue my passions and achieve my goals. I want to be a successful entrepreneur and make a positive impact in my community,’ she said.

For Anozike Alexander, a 400-Level student at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, he wants to use his skills to help businesses and individuals achieve their goals.

‘I believe that social media is a powerful tool for communication and marketing, and I’m excited to use my skills to help businesses and individuals achieve their goals.

‘I’ve been managing social media accounts for student organisations and creating content for various projects, and I can build a successful career in social media and achieve my goals.

I want to use social media to build relationships and achieve goals, I’m excited to help businesses and individuals succeed in the digital age,’ he said.