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Nigerian filmmaker and media consultant Akorede Adebowale, popularly known as Obj, has announced his intention to contest a seat in the Oyo State House of Assembly ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Adebowale, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the entertainment and media industry, is the National Secretary of the TAMPAN Guild of Directors.

He is seeking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket to represent Iwajowa Local Government Area in the Oyo State House of Assembly.

The filmmaker said his decision to enter politics was driven by a desire to contribute to human capital development, particularly through talent discovery, development and deployment within his constituency.

Adebowale also pledged to prioritise his constituents’ welfare and social security if elected.

‘I want to bring Human Capital Development in the area of Talent discovery, Development and Deployment. The most important thing for me is my people; their social security and wellbeing are secure under my leadership,’ he said.

Brand Finance has released its Football 2026 report, ranking the world’s most valuable football club brands.

Real Madrid retains the top spot for the third consecutive year, while Arsenal makes a major leap into the top three.

Ranking of the Most Valuable Football Club Brands (2026)

1 Real Madrid (Spain) – $2.766M

Brand value up 25%. Highest Brand Strength Index score (95.8/100). Benefited from the fully operational, renovated Santiago Bernabéu.

2 FC Barcelona (Spain) – ˜ $2.276M

Up 15%. Backed by consecutive La Liga titles and the phased return to Spotify Camp Nou.

3 Arsenal (England) – $1.772M

Biggest climber among top clubs (up 28% and five places). Boosted by a first Premier League title in 22 years and a Champions League final appearance.

4 Bayern Munich (Germany) – ˜ $1.748M

5 Paris Saint-Germain (France) – $1.734M

6 Manchester City (England) – $1.709M

7 Liverpool (England) – $1.695M

8 Manchester United (England) – $1.659M

9 Chelsea (England) – $1.109M

10 Borussia Dortmund (Germany) – $766M

Real Madrid becomes the first club to clearly surpass the brand value mark in the ranking’s history.

Spanish clubs continue to dominate the very top of the list, while Arsenal’s rise highlights the growing commercial power of the Premier League’s resurgent sides.

Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and Rivers State Ministry of Health have sealed an illegal maternity facility in Port Harcourt used by a child-trafficking syndicate for selling three children for N13.5million.

The agency explained that the operation, which led to the arrest of three persons, followed intelligence on a criminal network allegedly involved in the procurement, sale, and unlawful transfer of children.

Those arrested are the owner of the facility, the facilitator in the alleged baby sale, and one other member of staff of the maternity.

The maternity is regarded as one of the high-profile health centres in Elelenwo, Port Harcourt, the state capital.

In a statement, the Head of Press and Public Relations Unit at NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye, said preliminary investigation indicates that a Liberian who resides in Belgium arrived in Nigeria with no evidence of pregnancy and allegedly took custody of three children in one month.

NAPTIP stated that intelligence available to it indicates that about N13.5 million was exchanged in connection with the transfer of the three children and other members of staff of the maternity.

On the status of the investigation, the statement reads: ‘Acting on intelligence, NAPTIP operatives in Abuja and Rivers State, and officials of the Rivers State Ministry of Health carried out a coordinated operation at the suspected facility, sealing the premises to preserve the scene and safeguard potential evidence pending the outcome of investigations.

‘Investigators are now conducting forensic and documentary inquiries to establish the identities, whereabouts and welfare status of the children, determine their biological and legal parentage, identify all persons involved in their procurement and transfer; and trace the financial transactions and other circumstances surrounding their alleged procurement.’

NAPTIP added that it is also examining the possible role of medical personnel and other individuals who may have facilitated the suspected criminal enterprise.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, expressed worry over the fraudulent activities of operators of some maternity and health centres across the country, especially their suspected involvement in illegal adoption, child sale and trafficking.

She said: ‘I am particularly disturbed that foreign nationals now come to Nigeria to patronise these suspected criminal elements and procure children like a common object of trade across the border. This is sad and totally unacceptable.”

‘We have spread our dragnet to fish out all those involved in this case, and they shall be made to face the full wrath of the law.

‘I wish to reaffirm that the matter remains under active investigation and that all persons found connected to it will be subjected to due process under the law. The Agency will ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice, while the safety and welfare of the affected children remain its foremost priority’.

The DG urged the public to remain vigilant and report suspected cases of child trafficking, illegal adoption, baby-selling or other forms of exploitation to NAPTIP through its nearest zonal/state command.

All too often, girls who have their normal education disrupted as a result of pervasive poverty that forces them to drop out of school, early marriages and unanticipated pregnancies, communal displacements due to crises or violent attacks on schools, particularly in the North, have their educational pathways blocked for life and their potentials irreversibly trapped and aborted.

The commissioning of the rehabilitated Alternative High School for Girls, Agboju, Lagos State, by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) is a commendable demonstration of a commitment to giving this category of girls who had dropped out of school another opportunity to resume learning, be equipped with new skills and have brighter chances of achieving success.

According to the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Aisha Garba, the institution was rehabilitated through the UBEC Direct Intervention Programme and, apart from the provision of physical infrastructure, is designed to restore hope and create opportunities for girls and young women desirous of re-connecting with education.

The rehabilitated school is equipped with two blocks accommodating over 26 classrooms, laboratories for agriculture, physics and biology, a library and information and communication centre.To fulfill its unique purpose of enabling students to complete their secondary school education while also learning vocational skills to prepare them for careers and make them self-reliant, the school also has vocational workshops for cosmetology, garment-making, hair dressing, catering, and home economics.

UBEC is also to provide the school with a school bus and digital smart boards before the end of 2026.This is surely the right way to ensure Dr Garba’s affirmation that ‘A girl whose circumstances prevented her from completing her education should be given another opportunity. Every child deserves an alternative pathway to acquire the education needed to succeed in life’.

Girls with better education will certainly be able to more effectively utilise whatever intervention funds are made available to them to set up small businesses.

We join the UBEC executive secretary in commending the consistent support of the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for the education of young women, even long before she attained her present status.Apart from providing these facilities, it is equally important that no effort be spared to reach girls in this category and rekindling their hopes in the possibility of continuing their education so that they can utilise the opportunity.

UBEC has announced that work on another such alternative high school is ongoing in Ikorodu, also in Lagos.Earlier, a similar institution for girls with disrupted education had been established in Bauchi State.

These efforts only scratch the surface of what is a very serious challenge and need to be considerably expanded and the rate of implementation accelerated across the country through closer collaboration between UBEC and state governments.It is estimated that there are approximately 7.6 million out-of- school girls in Nigeria.

Girls are particularly vulnerable to having their education disrupted due to such cultural practices as early marriages and pregnancies in many communities, especially in the North.

There is also the tendency in rural communities to prioritise the education of the male child to the neglect of girls who may be able to have an opportunity later in life only through initiatives like this.

However, boys can also be the victims of debilitating poverty, destabilising conflicts that displace communities or entanglement in vices like drug addiction or cult activities that disrupt their education.

They also deserve to be reached out to, redeemed from hopelessness and offered opportunities to receive an education and empowered to become productive members of society.

If there is one thing Big Brother Naija has mastered over the years, it is the element of surprise. Just when housemates think they have figured out how to navigate the house, Biggie completely shifts the dynamic.

Three weeks into the Show Ya Sef season, the show is proving once again why it remains a massive cultural staple. Rather than relying solely on housemate drama, the franchise keeps finding fresh ways to evolve its own rules, keeping both the contestants and millions of viewers on their toes.

High stakes, new dynamics

Take The Gambit, one of the most talked-about twists this season. By giving Flora and Aikou permanent immunity all the way to the grand finale, the show handed them a major safety net. The catch? They are completely excluded from winning the grand prize money.

They get to stay till the end, but they cannot take home the cash.

That single move changes the social dynamic of the house. How do you form alliances or build trust with housemates who do not have to worry about eviction, but also have no financial skin in the game? It forces everyone to play a completely different kind of strategic game.

Putting a price on performance

Then there is the shift in how weekly accountability works. The N100 million prize money is no longer a guaranteed static figure. Instead, it is directly tied to how well the house performs each week, with N5 million deducted for every failed weekly performance.

This changes the energy during presentations and tasks. Laziness or a lack of effort is no longer just a personal risk for eviction; it directly reduces the final cash prize that everyone is fighting for. When every misstep costs real money, weekly tasks naturally carry a whole new level of focus, teamwork, and prime-time intensity.

Staying ahead of the curve

This constant shift in rules is exactly why the show continues to drive daily conversations across social media. Viewers are not just passively watching people interact; they are actively deciphering the rules and predicting how these twists will play out in real time.

Over eleven seasons, we have seen fake evictions, secret pairings, double houses, and dynamic voting formats. The details always change, but the core strategy remains the same: disrupt the game before it becomes predictable, and give the audience something genuinely exciting to discuss every day.

Following the tragic death of more than 100 artisanal miners in a devastating gold-mine collapse in Zamboye, Central African Republic (CAR), the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG) has issued a continental call to action, demanding immediate reforms to end the human toll of unregulated mining operations.

In a statement in Abuja on Friday, AMSG chairman, Dr Dele Alake, described the incident as a profound tragedy that ‘Should trouble the conscience of our continent.’

Expressing solidarity with the bereaved, Alake emphasised that behind the alarming numbers are individuals whose absence leaves irreplaceable gaps in families and local communities.

‘These were not just miners. They were our brothers, fathers, uncles, sons, and indeed, breadwinners,’ Alake stated. ‘On behalf of the African Minerals Strategy Group, I extend my deepest condolences to the Government and people of the Central African Republic… We stand in solidarity with them at this moment of grief.’

While addressing the broader ramifications of informal extraction across the continent, the AMSG Chairman warned that illegal operations inflict far-reaching damage-robbing African states of critical revenue, causing severe environmental degradation, and fueling illicit trade networks.

However, he stressed that the loss of human capital remains the most destructive fallout of all.

‘This tragedy is again a painful reminder that behind every statistic about illegal mining are human beings-young men and women trying to earn a living, support their families and escape poverty,’ Alake noted, adding firmly: ‘No mineral is valuable enough to justify the loss of a human life.’

To prevent similar disasters in the future, the AMSG advocates a dual-track policy across member nations: clamping down on illicit networks while offering legitimate avenues for small-scale miners to transition into safer environments.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed the management of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to engage fellows of the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy (LJLA) on their recommendations for improving waste management in the state.

Sanwo-Olu gave the directive during a mentorship session with the Class of Catalysts, the academy’s third cohort, where the fellows presented policy recommendations on waste and risk management.

The governor urged the fellows to meet with LAWMA officials to present their findings, defend their recommendations and engage with those responsible for managing waste in Lagos.

He said the interaction would provide an opportunity for the young leaders to ask questions, receive feedback and explore practical ways of addressing challenges in the sector.

According to him, the engagement reflects the vision behind the leadership academy – creating a platform where young people can use research and fresh ideas to interrogate government policies, while also giving the government the opportunity to listen and respond.

Sanwo-Olu also commended the fellows for their capstone projects, including proposals for a library and ICT centre, describing them as initiatives capable of delivering measurable impact and extending beyond the current cohort.

He urged the fellows to sustain the relationships built during the programme, stressing that a strong alumni network could become a valuable source of ideas, knowledge and support for future initiatives.

Reflecting on the fellows’ recent policy trip to Rwanda, the governor challenged them to study successful models in other countries and consider how such approaches could be adapted to improve governance in Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu also stressed the importance of consistency in government policies, saying investors require certainty and predictability before committing resources.

‘People want clarity. People want definitive pronouncements. No matter how tough that pronouncement, they want you to be consistent with it so that they can plan,’ he said.

He urged the fellows to remain open to learning, listen before responding and learn from their mistakes, describing the ability to turn failure into lessons as an important leadership quality.

The governor also challenged them to consider how their contributions would be judged by future generations.

‘How will history judge you? What will people say to you?’ he asked.

The Executive Secretary of LJLA, Ayisat Agbaje-Okunade, said the Class of Catalysts was the academy’s third cohort, bringing the number of young people who have passed through the programme to about 90.

She said graduation should not be regarded as the end of the fellows’ leadership journey but as the beginning of a new phase of greater responsibility.

Agbaje-Okunade said the fellows had been exposed to both theoretical and practical leadership through readings, mentorship sessions, fireside chats and shadowing opportunities with commissioners and heads of ministries, departments and agencies.

She said the academy was established not merely to impart leadership knowledge but to raise young people capable of making meaningful contributions to society.

‘When they enter the fellowship, they don’t know the sort of leader they want to be. But they know the sort of leader they do not want to be,’ she said.

Agbaje-Okunade urged the fellows to continue to demonstrate patriotism, responsibility and respect for the law after completing the fellowship.

‘Our vision has always been to build a society transformed by the leadership of young people. So our transformation is very much dependent on them, even after they leave the fellowship,’ she added.

She said the academy had also broadened the fellows’ exposure through international engagements, including a recent policy trip to Kigali, Rwanda, where they interacted with government officials, mayors, district heads and communities.

No fewer than 41 people died yesterday after a boat carrying passengers capsized in Gorau community, Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

But 11 people were rescued.

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has confirmed the accident.

The NIWA Area Manager in Sokoto, Mr Abdulkadir Yusuf, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto.

Yusuf said the boat was carrying about 82 persons, including the community leader in transit to a rice farm for harvest.

About a year ago, 10 people died in a boat mishap in Sokoto.

Last September, 10 residents of Zalla-Bango village who were running away from bandits in Sabon Birni Local Government Area, drowned. Their bodies were later recovered by villagers and fishermen.

Weeks earlier at Garin-Faji, also at Sabon Birni, over five people died while 21 others were rescued in a mishap. Another mishap also occurred at Kojiyo village in Goronyo Local Government Area.

The Face of Good Governance Nigeria (FOGGN) has expressed its commitment to mobilising support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Director-General of FOGGN, Sonia Joy Okochichi, alongside other stakeholders, reaffirmed the organisation’s support for the President during a road walk in Abuja.

Okochichi said the group’s support for the administration was based on the belief that the government’s policies and programmes could contribute to economic growth, youth empowerment and national development.

The road walk, which started in Nyanya and ended at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, drew youths, members of the organisation, and other supporters who expressed confidence in the administration and its policies.

Participants carried placards and chanted solidarity messages as they moved through the city, saying the exercise aimed to demonstrate their support for continuity, good governance and the country’s development.

The organisers explained that the exercise was intended not only to demonstrate political support for the President but also to promote peace, unity, and responsible citizenship among Nigerians.

According to them, the road walk gave young Nigerians a platform to express their views on national issues and encouraged greater participation in the country’s democratic process.

They stressed the need for sustained youth involvement in governance and national development, noting that young Nigerians have important roles to play in shaping the country’s future.

Okochichi and other stakeholders called on youths to remain committed to Nigeria’s progress and to participate constructively in the democratic process.

Representatives of the Minister of Youth and Sports Development and the Director-General of the Tinubu Support Group commended participants for their commitment and peaceful conduct throughout the exercise.

They said initiatives that encourage youth participation in national affairs could create more opportunities for young Nigerians to contribute meaningfully to the country’s development.

The representatives also urged young people to remain peaceful and law-abiding while actively participating in programmes and initiatives that promote national unity and development.

At the Federal Secretariat, where the road walk ended, participants reiterated their support for the President and called for sustained efforts to address the country’s development challenges.

FOGGN said it would continue to engage Nigerians, particularly youths, on issues of governance and development while mobilising support for its preferred political direction ahead of the 2027 general elections.

An old video of actress Shaffy Bello discussing respect and how younger people address elders has resurfaced online amid debate over a viral exchange between UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu and a young woman who called him ‘Tony’.

In the clip from a past podcast, Bello said she does not appreciate being called ‘Shaffy’ by people younger than her.

‘When a child calls me by my name, Shaffy, I pull them closer and tell them, ‘You haven’t earned the right, and you never will,” she said.

The actress explained that having children around the same age as those who address her casually makes it particularly uncomfortable.

‘I have a child as old as you are, and even if I do not have children, you have not earned the right, and you will never earn the right at your age to call me by name,’ she added.

Bello also questioned the use of casual greetings.

‘Whatever happened to Ma’am?’ she asked. ‘There is even something about this ‘Hi’; I can’t stand it.’

She attributed differences in address to upbringing and culture, noting that even children in the United States use respectful titles.

‘Even children in the U.S. call me ‘Ma,” she said, stressing that respect for elders remains important to her.

The video has gone viral again following the Elumelu clip, with many Nigerians debating generational etiquette and respect.