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The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has unveiled plans to provide comprehensive Loss of Licence Insurance Cover for all Nigerian pilots and aircraft engineers.

This initiative marks a milestone in strengthening the welfare and professional security of aviation personnel across the country.

The scheme, developed in partnership with First Standard Insurance Brokers, is designed to protect pilots and engineers who lose their professional licences due to medical incapacity or other qualifying conditions that render them unable to continue flying or maintaining aircraft.

It will provide financial compensation, based on policy terms, to affected members, helping them manage career interruptions or medical recovery without financial distress.

Speaking on the initiative, Bunmi Gindeh, President of NAAPE, said the Association reached the decision after extensive consultations with stakeholders in the aviation industry.

He explained that the move reflects NAAPE’s commitment to improving members’ welfare and promoting professional stability within the sector.

‘Loss of Licence insurance for aviation professionals has long been a standard benefit in developed aviation markets worldwide. Our members face unique occupational risks that can abruptly end their careers. The goal of this initiative is to ensure that no pilot or engineer is left without financial support if they are declared medically unfit to continue their professional duties,’ Gindeh stated.

He added, ‘By introducing this important coverage in Nigeria, we are not only protecting individual professionals and their families but also strengthening the aviation sector by ensuring that our highly trained workforce can focus on maintaining the highest safety standards, knowing their careers are financially protected against unforeseen medical challenges.’

‘NAAPE is also working to make the insurance cover affordable and accessible to all members, including those in private and charter operations,’ Captain Gindeh further stated.

He emphasised that the Association’s goal is to standardise professional welfare across both public and private aviation sectors.

Mudi Muhammad, NAAPE Deputy President, said, ‘We have seen too many of our colleagues face financial hardship after losing their licences due to unexpected medical conditions. This insurance programme ensures that no Nigerian pilot or engineer will face such circumstances alone. It provides a safety net that every aviation professional deserves.’

The initiative has been widely commended by aviation stakeholders, who described it as a landmark step, reflecting NAAPE’s commitment to global best practices in aviation labour protection. Loss of Licence insurance remains a standard component of crew benefits offered by airlines or secured through professional associations like NAAPE.

This proactive step further strengthens professional confidence within the industry, especially in light of recent public discussions about pilot fitness and regulatory oversight in Nigeria.

Enrolment details and premium structures will be announced in the coming weeks. NAAPE will also conduct nationwide sensitisation workshops and information sessions to educate members and eligible professionals on the benefits and enrolment process.

The Association said it remains committed to protecting the professional and economic well-being of its members while contributing to the continued growth and safety of Nigeria’s aviation industry.

Dick Cheney, the former United States vice president who helped shape America’s ‘war on terror’ and became one of the most powerful and divisive figures in modern Washington, has died aged 84.

His family announced that he died from complications of pneumonia and heart disease, surrounded by his wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary. ‘Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country and to live lives of courage, honour, love, kindness and fly fishing,’ the family said in a statement.

For decades, Cheney’s name was synonymous with hawkish foreign policy, unflinching conservatism, and behind-the-scenes influence. As vice president to George W Bush from 2001 to 2009, he was a driving force behind the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the sweeping expansion of executive power in the name of national security.

But in his later years, the man once seen as the iron hand of the Republican establishment became a fierce critic of Donald Trump, calling him ‘the greatest threat to our republic in history.’

From Wyoming to Washington’s inner circle

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1941, Richard Bruce Cheney grew up in the oil town of Casper, Wyoming. He dropped out of Yale, describing his younger self as ‘a kid who thought beer was one of life’s essentials.’ After earning a master’s degree in political science from the University of Wyoming, he found his way to Washington during the Nixon years, working under Donald Rumsfeld.

By 34, he was White House chief of staff for president Gerald Ford, a calm operator known for driving a beat-up Volkswagen Beetle instead of a limousine. ‘He made the system run,’ Brent Scowcroft, Ford’s national security adviser, once said.

In 1978, Cheney won Wyoming’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, where he built a reputation as a rock-solid conservative. He voted against the release of Nelson Mandela and opposed the ban on armour-piercing ‘cop killer’ bullets.

The war strategist

When George H. W. Bush tapped him as defence secretary in 1989, Cheney oversaw the US-led coalition that ousted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. The victory cemented his reputation as a capable, no-nonsense strategist.

Bush and Cheney have their weekly lunch in a small dining room at the White House in October 2001. Brooks Kraft/Sygma via Getty Images

A decade later, as George W. Bush’s vice president, he would again steer America into war, this time in Iraq. After the September 11 attacks, Cheney championed what he called ‘the dark side’ of counterterrorism, endorsing waterboarding and secret detention. He insisted Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had links to al-Qaeda, claims later proven false.

He saw the conflict as a test of American power. ‘The fact is, we know Saddam Hussein and Iraq were heavily involved with terror,’ Cheney said in 2006.

To critics, he embodied the arrogance of unchecked power. To supporters, he was a patriot unafraid to act decisively in dangerous times.

A second act of dissent

After leaving office in 2009, Cheney remained defiant. ‘I was a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation techniques,’ he said in a 2010 interview, brushing off accusations of torture.

Yet as the Republican Party shifted under Donald Trump, Cheney’s tone changed. In 2022, he warned that Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election marked ‘a line no American president should ever cross.’ He later endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, saying: ‘We have a duty to put country above partisanship.’

Trump, in turn, mocked him as an ‘irrelevant RINO.’

His daughter Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman and one of Trump’s fiercest Republican critics, said her father ‘never bent the knee to anyone who disrespected the Constitution.’

A complex legacy

Cheney’s political life was defined by contradictions. A hardline conservative who supported gay marriage because of his daughter Mary, a lifelong Republican who backed a Democrat, and a Washington insider who mistrusted the capital’s moral pretensions.

He survived multiple heart attacks and received a heart transplant in 2012 – a gift he described as ‘the gift of life itself.’

To his admirers, he was the ultimate public servant: disciplined, decisive, and deeply committed to American strength. To his detractors, he was the architect of disastrous wars and an era of overreach.

Yet, as Washington reflects on his death, few dispute his impact. Cheney’s shadow loomed large over two generations of American politics – a man who wielded quiet power and never apologised for the consequences

In the corridors of global finance, a quiet but consequential shift is underway. Wall Street is experimenting with a new phrase, ‘disaster debt’, shorthand for an emerging anxiety: that the developing world’s collective liabilities, now exceeding US$33 trillion, are approaching a breaking point. Behind the jargon lies a stark truth – global debt is entering an era of structural vulnerability. The question haunting trading desks in New York and London is no longer if sovereign stress will erupt again, but when and how it will be contained.

For Nigeria, this is not an abstract debate. It is a mirror reflecting our nation’s fiscal fragility, its reliance on debt-fuelled spending, and its exposure to volatile global liquidity. The country’s financing architecture, a complex weave of Eurobonds, domestic instruments, and swelling service obligations, places it squarely in the line of fire should the global order of sovereign credit be rewritten.

‘Nigeria already faces some of the steepest sovereign yields globally, and embedding debt-relief expectations could push them higher still, crowding out private investment and deterring long-term capital.’

What was once taboo, sovereign debt restructuring, is rapidly becoming mainstream. Creditors and intermediaries are exploring frameworks that would allow debts to be automatically adjusted under conditions of extreme distress: contingent haircuts, coupon step-downs, or maturity re-profiling triggered by predefined economic thresholds. The rationale is practical. A rule-based, pre-emptive restructuring could avert the chaos of a disorderly default and prevent contagion across markets. Yet, for borrowing nations, the implications are far from benign. If investors internalise the idea that future relief is built into contracts, they will demand higher yields upfront. The invisible glue of sovereign finance – confidence – risks being permanently weakened.

This evolving logic is already reshaping emerging-market dynamics. Stronger credits, such as Chile or Indonesia, may remain within the ‘safe corridor’, while weaker credits drift into quasi-distress, where every policy misstep triggers capital flight. The result is a deeper segmentation of risk: wider spreads, heightened volatility, and a self-reinforcing cycle of fragility. Traditional mechanisms-the Paris Club, IMF programmes, and bilateral arrangements-are struggling to cope with the complexity and scale of modern sovereign debt, where private creditors now dominate exposure. The playbook for crisis management is being rewritten in real time.

As of June 2025, Nigeria’s external debt stood at US $45.98 billion, up from US $43 billion at the end of 2024, reflecting both new borrowing and revaluation effects. Domestic debt remains the mainstay of financing, with yields on 10-year FGN bonds hovering near 15.7 per cent – among the highest in the developing world. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy rate, even after a modest cut, remains elevated at 27 percent, underlining the cost of capital in an economy battling to reconcile growth with stability. Inflation, though easing, persists at roughly 22 per cent, while external debt now accounts for nearly 29 per cent of gross national income, a ratio trending upward. These metrics expose a painful squeeze: debt service consumes an ever-larger share of revenue, crowding out spending on infrastructure, health, and education.

If ‘disaster debt’ clauses were to become standard, Nigeria could, in theory, gain breathing space during crises-a rule-based pause on payments triggered by oil-price collapse or sharp naira depreciation. But this relief is double-edged. Anticipation of future restructuring could push borrowing costs higher today, as investors demand a premium for uncertainty. Moreover, such frameworks could impose new constraints: tighter covenants, greater creditor oversight, and reduced fiscal autonomy. Nigeria’s reputation could slip from ‘high-yield’ to ‘high-risk’, eroding access to markets and raising refinancing costs-a perilous loop of dependence.

The risk materialises through three interlocking channels. First, the cost of capital. Nigeria already faces some of the steepest sovereign yields globally, and embedding debt-relief expectations could push them higher still, crowding out private investment and deterring long-term capital. Second, rollover risk. A significant portion of Nigeria’s obligations must be refinanced annually; should investor appetite falter, maturities could cascade into technical default, unsettling domestic banks heavily exposed to government securities. Third, policy compression. Triggers for automatic restructuring could force fiscal and monetary tightening prematurely – imposing austerity just when stimulus is required, deepening recessions and stalling recovery.

A plausible stress scenario brings this into focus. Imagine a 30 percent drop in global oil prices coupled with renewed naira depreciation. Revenues would collapse, reserves would drain, and credit markets would recoil. Under a disaster-debt framework, creditors could immediately invoke adjustment clauses, demanding coupon cuts or reprofiling. In such moments, Nigeria’s survival would hinge less on legal provisions than on credibility – the trust investors place in its institutions, coherence of policy, and political will to execute reforms.

Despite vulnerabilities, Nigeria is not without buffers. Adjusted for swaps and forward commitments, foreign-exchange reserves reached US $23.1 billion in April 2025-their highest in three years-offering modest liquidity protection. Investor sentiment, though cautious, has not evaporated. In the first half of 2025, foreign portfolio inflows surged to US$5.64 billion, a 67 per cent year-on-year increase – proof that yield-hungry investors still see opportunity amid risk. The government’s successful issuance of a US$500 million sovereign sukuk and planned US$2.3 billion in new borrowings suggest an effort to diversify financing through green bonds, diaspora instruments, and asset-backed structures. Handled prudently, these innovations could bolster Nigeria’s negotiating position in any future restructuring by showcasing proactive liability management rather than reactive crisis control.

Still, sustainability cannot be manufactured through clever instruments alone. True solvency requires economic transformation – productivity growth, export diversification, and institutional credibility. Without structural reform in power, manufacturing, agriculture, and public finance, any relief mechanism would merely defer insolvency. Oil revenues still account for about 80 percent of export earnings, leaving the economy perilously exposed to commodity shocks that can erase fiscal progress overnight. To fortify resilience, Nigeria must deepen financial transparency, strengthen debt reporting, and ensure hidden liabilities do not distort risk perception. Revenue reform is equally urgent: expanding the tax base, curbing leakages, and boosting non-oil income are essential to fiscal sustainability. Meanwhile, active liability management – through swaps, buybacks, and tenor extensions – should become a standing policy tool, signalling strategic intent to both domestic and foreign creditors.

Nigeria also has a strategic role to play beyond its borders. If the next generation of sovereign restructuring rules is drafted solely in New York or London, emerging nations risk negotiating perpetually from a position of weakness. As Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has both the stake and the stature to advocate for fairer frameworks – ones that balance creditor discipline with developmental space.

Ultimately, ‘disaster debt’ is both an opportunity and a warning – a promise of orderly relief that could, paradoxically, make debt costlier and capital more discriminatory. In this emerging order, survival will hinge not on optimism but on credibility. For Nigeria, resilience must become a deliberate policy – built through reform, transparency, and prudent engagement. The era of cheap, forgiving capital is almost certainly over; the next phase of global finance will reward nations not for avoiding crisis but for proving they can manage it with steadiness and strategy. Resilience is no longer optional. It is the new currency of trust.

The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has announced the launch of the Sugarcane Outgrower Development Programme (SODP), a flagship initiative aimed at accelerating local sugar production and driving Nigeria closer to self-sufficiency.

According to Kamar Bakrin, executive secretary/CEO of NSDC, the programme is a key component of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP II) and has been designed to scale up local sugarcane production, reduce the nation’s reliance on imports, and stimulate inclusive economic growth, particularly within rural communities.

‘The SODP is designed to boost local sugarcane cultivation, reduce Nigeria’s dependence on sugar imports, and create opportunities for inclusive economic growth by integrating outgrower farmers into the industry’s supply chain. This programme will complement the output of existing large-scale sugar estates and help close the national supply gap,’ Bakrin stated.

Bakrin in a statement further emphasised that this is a pioneering initiative in Nigeria’s sugar sector and for the first time, a structured outgrower development programme will formally integrate farmers at all levels into the national sugar value chain.

‘This campaign is about reaching every stakeholder, from large-scale operators to smallholder farmers, and ensuring that everyone has a fair opportunity to contribute to Nigeria’s journey towards self-sufficiency in sugar production,’ he explained.

The SODP, according to the NSDC boss, will empower participating farmers through guaranteed offtake agreements ensuring market access; access to quality seedcane and inputs; technical support and structured training programmes; and adoption of sustainable land and water use practices.

Speaking on the programme framework, Lade Offurum, Head of Out-Grower Management at the NSDC, explained that the SODP will engage three key categories of farmers, agribusinesses and commercial farmers cultivating 50-500+ hectares, farming cooperatives, who can apply as organised clusters of between 30 and 50 hectares, and individual farmers or friends willing to jointly farm clusters of 30+ hectares.

The council noted that with the launch of the SODP, it continues to deliver on the objectives of the NSMP II, accelerating investments in local production, empowering farmers, and advancing Nigeria’s vision for a globally competitive sugar industry.

The Kaduna State Government and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have initiated the distribution of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) to children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

The launch event was held at the Council Chamber of Kaduna State, where Governor Uba Sani and Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, UNICEF Country Representative, reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing the lives and well-being of children in the region.

Governor Sani expressed his pleasure in hosting the UNICEF team. He praised the organisation’s efforts in supporting the state’s initiatives in health, nutrition, education, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene.

He observed that this partnership has led to measurable progress in improving the lives of women and children in the state. ‘We believe that no community can thrive without access to quality healthcare, clean water, and good nutrition,’ he stated.

The Governor underscored the significance of human capital development, highlighting the state’s ongoing efforts to build schools, hospitals, and provide essential amenities.

He emphasised that the administration is dedicated to ensuring every child has access to quality healthcare and nutrition, declaring, ‘We will continue to invest in saving lives and supporting the most vulnerable in our society.’

Abdelatef praised the Kaduna State Government for its commitment to improving children’s well-being, noting that the leadership has made considerable progress in addressing malnutrition and other health challenges.

‘Kaduna State is one of the states that has made significant and commendable progress regarding the well-being of children,’ she said.

The distribution of RUTF is a life-saving initiative aimed at providing therapeutic food to children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

This programme is expected to benefit thousands of children in the state and will be implemented in collaboration with the state government and other stakeholders.

The launch of the RUTF distribution marks a significant milestone in the partnership between the Kaduna State Government and UNICEF.

This event highlights the commitment of both parties to enhancing the lives and well-being of children in the region. As Governor Sani emphasised, ‘Together, we will continue to build a community where every child is healthy, well-nourished, and full of potential.’

As Africa surges toward a population of 2.5 billion by 2050-more than a quarter of the world’s people-artificial intelligence (AI) penetration stands as a pivotal force shaping its destiny. AI penetration refers to the deep integration of AI technologies into the fabric of economies, societies, and governance systems. From algorithms that optimise farming practices to machine learning models that enhance medical diagnostics, AI is no longer a distant prospect but a present reality. In 2025, Africa’s AI market is burgeoning, with projections indicating rapid expansion that could double economic growth rates in the coming decade. This momentum holds the power to propel the continent into a thriving knowledge economy, generating trillions in value and fostering unprecedented innovation. Yet, without thoughtful and equitable stewardship, AI risks widening existing divides, turning a beacon of hope into a source of deepening inequality. This article explores the profound impacts of AI penetration, confronts its formidable challenges, and envisions divergent outcomes, calling on Africa to assert bold agency in crafting its digital future.

Transformative impacts: Igniting economic and social renewal

AI is fundamentally reshaping Africa’s core sectors, addressing long-standing inefficiencies and unleashing human potential on an unprecedented scale. At the heart of this transformation lies agriculture, the economic backbone for the majority of the continent’s workforce. Traditional farming methods have long struggled with unpredictable weather patterns, limited access to soil insights, and opaque market information, resulting in substantial losses after harvest. AI intervenes with precision tools that harness satellite imagery and predictive analytics to monitor crop health, forecast optimal planting seasons, and streamline supply chains. Smallholder farmers, who form the majority of producers, now receive actionable advice through simple mobile interfaces, enabling them to increase outputs significantly and transition from subsistence to sustainable, market-orientated operations. This shift not only stabilises food supplies across the continent but also positions African agriculture as a competitive force on the global stage, potentially injecting hundreds of billions into the economy and reducing hunger for millions.

In healthcare, where medical professionals are stretched thin across vast populations, AI emerges as a vital ally. Diagnostic systems powered by advanced neural networks can identify diseases from basic imaging with remarkable accuracy, often outperforming overburdened human experts in remote settings. Drone delivery networks, guided by intelligent routing algorithms, transport essential medicines and blood supplies to isolated clinics in minutes rather than hours, dramatically improving survival rates for emergencies like childbirth complications or infections. Predictive models analyse environmental and mobility data to anticipate disease outbreaks, allowing communities to deploy preventive measures proactively. Telemedicine platforms, featuring chatbots fluent in local languages, provide round-the-clock consultations, extending quality care to underserved regions and empowering patients with personalised health advice. Collectively, these innovations bridge the gap between need and access, saving countless lives and building resilient health systems capable of withstanding future crises.

Education stands to gain even more profoundly, as AI personalises learning experiences in environments plagued by overcrowded classrooms and outdated materials. Adaptive platforms deliver tailored lessons via mobile devices, adjusting content in real-time based on a student’s pace, strengths, and challenges. Whether mastering mathematics through interactive quizzes or exploring science via gamified modules, learners receive instruction that feels bespoke rather than uniform. This approach is particularly transformative for youth in low-connectivity areas, where simple text-based systems ensure continuity even without reliable internet. By fostering critical thinking and digital fluency, AI equips the continent’s young population-its greatest demographic asset-with the skills needed to thrive in a technology-driven world, laying the foundation for widespread innovation and entrepreneurship.

Financial inclusion receives a powerful boost as AI enhances mobile money ecosystems, which have already revolutionised transactions across Africa. With vast numbers of adults previously excluded from formal banking, AI-driven tools now detect fraud in real-time and assess creditworthiness using everyday transaction patterns rather than traditional collateral. This unlocks microloans for small business owners, farmers, and entrepreneurs, fuelling grassroots economic activity and formalising informal markets. The ripple effects extend to entire communities, as increased financial access enables investments in education, housing, and health, creating virtuous cycles of prosperity.

Governance, too, evolves under AI’s influence. Analytical tools uncover patterns of corruption in public spending, promoting transparency and accountability. Urban planning benefits from intelligent traffic management systems that alleviate congestion in sprawling cities, improving quality of life and economic productivity. Environmentally, AI optimises resource use, such as water distribution in drought-prone areas, conserving vital supplies amid escalating climate pressures. Socially, the technology bridges gender disparities by offering training programmes in local languages, empowering women with digital skills and economic opportunities. For youth, AI-driven coding initiatives and innovation hubs cultivate the next generation of creators. These interconnected impacts harness Africa’s youthful energy, transforming it from a demographic challenge into a global innovation powerhouse.

Persistent challenges: Navigating the uneven terrain

Despite its dazzling potential, AI penetration encounters profound structural barriers that demand urgent and collective resolution. Infrastructure shortcomings form the most immediate obstacle. Reliable electricity remains elusive in many regions, while internet access varies dramatically between urban centres and rural expanses. Affordable devices are out of reach for the most vulnerable, rendering sophisticated AI applications impractical without innovative solutions like solar-powered microgrids. This digital chasm threatens to create a bifurcated continent, where technological benefits accrue primarily to connected elites.

The skills deficit compounds these issues. Formal education systems have yet to produce a critical mass of AI specialists, leaving businesses eager to adopt the technology dependent on scarce external expertise. Funding tends to concentrate in a handful of nations, marginalising others and perpetuating regional imbalances. Foreign tech giants, holding the lion’s share of global patents, risk extracting valuable local data to fuel their models without returning meaningful benefits-a form of digital extraction that echoes historical inequities.

Ethical concerns cast additional shadows. Algorithms trained predominantly on non-African data often exhibit biases, leading to unfair outcomes in areas like security and employment. Privacy protections are inconsistent, leaving personal information exposed to exploitation. Automation raises fears of widespread job displacement in routine sectors, potentially swelling unemployment among youth without robust retraining pathways. Cybersecurity vulnerabilities invite manipulation, such as deepfake-driven misinformation that undermines elections and social cohesion. Culturally, AI systems rooted in Western paradigms overlook the continent’s rich linguistic diversity and communal traditions, breeding resistance and irrelevance.

Regulatory hurdles further impede progress. While continental frameworks aim to standardise ethical practices, implementation remains patchy, complicating cross-border collaboration and data sharing. Volatile funding streams doom many promising initiatives before they can scale, underscoring the need for sustained public and private investment.

Pathways to outcomes: Divergent futures in Africa’s grasp

The ultimate trajectory of AI in Africa hinges on deliberate choices, branching into three distinct paths.

Optimistic horizon: Visionary policies foster inclusive growth, connecting vast populations through expanded infrastructure and training programmes. Open-source innovations position Africa as a net exporter of AI solutions, eradicating poverty and fortifying climate defences while unleashing youth-led breakthroughs.

Pessimistic scenario: Inaction breeds division. Urban-rural gaps widen into chasms of unrest, biased systems entrench social fractures, and external dependencies erode sovereignty, trapping the continent in a cycle of dependency.

Balanced path: Guided by continental agendas, Africa blends tradition with technology-enforcing data sovereignty, cultivating diverse talent, and forging strategic partnerships. By mid-century, it emerged as a global AI leader, its integrated approach yielding equitable prosperity.

Conclusion: Embracing Africa’s AI imperative

AI penetration presents Africa with an extraordinary canvas: economic vitality, health revolutions, educational empowerment, and social inclusion. Yet, infrastructure gaps, ethical dilemmas, and inequities form a formidable gauntlet. The impacts inspire awe, the challenges demand resolve, and outcomes rest squarely on African agency. Will the continent author its narrative or inherit foreign designs? As visionary thinkers advocate, weave local wisdom-village ingenuity and ancestral knowledge-into technological frameworks. Leaders must prioritise skills development, enact protective regulations, and unite in continental solidarity. Africa’s 1.4 billion people, predominantly young and resilient, represent its unparalleled strength. Guided by AI, they can achieve not just endurance but world-leading excellence. The mandate is unambiguous: innovate with inclusivity, or risk obsolescence. This moment calls for audacious vision-Africa’s future teeters on the brink of greatness.

The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed reports alleging that it compelled personnel across the country to purchase a handbook titled ‘Attitudinal Change Handbook for the Nigeria Police Force’ for N2,000 per officer.

An online report had claimed that the Force Headquarters issued a directive making the book’s purchase compulsory, with a Thursday deadline reportedly set for payment.

Benjamin Hundeyin, Force Public Relations Officer, described the viral report as ‘misleading,’ insisting that no officer was compelled to buy the book.

The Force clarified that the correspondence from the Force Headquarters to all state commands explicitly emphasised that the purchase was optional.

‘The directive from the Force Headquarters to the commissioners of police, telling them that the book should be sold to interested police officers and that it should be voluntary.

‘I have conducted my findings, and no command has forced the book on any officer. I don’t know where that report came from. Maybe one officer somewhere made it compulsory, and that should be reported to us, not to the media.

‘The real power to discipline such an officer lies with the Police Service Commission. So, anyone who has such information should bring it forward’, he said.

Hundeyin urged the public and media outlets to verify such claims before publication, stressing that the Force remains committed to transparency and ethical reform initiatives.

Former Media Director for the Canada chapter of the APC Presidential Council, Abiola Oshodi, says Nigeria needs intelligence sharing, strategic investment, not threats to tackle her security challenges.

Oshodi disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Akure.

He was reacting to the United States President Donald Trump’s recent threat of military action in Nigeria.

He noted that although security challenges were obvious in Nigeria, the country remained sovereign entity, not a colony.

‘Yes, Nigeria has security challenges, but we are not a colony.

‘No honest Nigerian will deny that our country has lost far too many of our brothers and sisters – Christians and Muslims alike including those without any affiliation to any religion

‘Every life matters, and every Nigerian death inflicts gaping wounds on our collective national conscience. However, acknowledging our challenges does not give foreign powers the right to lecture us with condescending tones and veiled threats,’ he stated.

The APC chieftain who was the convener of Oshodi for Tinubu/Shettima Media Group in 2023 Presidential Election, said Nigeria with over 200 million ‘voices’ should not be waiting for a ‘foreign saviour.’

He acknowledged Trump’s security concern but said the U.S. President should help strengthen the war against insurgency to prevent future tragedies in Nigeria.

‘When the discussion shifts from empathy to threats of military intervention, it loses its moral standing and turns into geopolitical theatre of comedy .

‘No Nigerian problem has ever been solved by intimidation abroad.

‘What we need is support, intelligence sharing, and strategic investment, not threats hurled across continents like a challenge in a street fighting.

‘Reducing Nigeria’s security crisis to a ‘Muslims versus Christians’ narrative is not just misleading – it is inflammatory and dangerous,’ he said.

Oshodi said Nigerians would fix Nigeria, saying her allies were welcomed.

‘We do not reject cooperation. We reject coercion and we do not reject support, but we reject any claim of ownership.

‘If the US truly wants to help, it can provide more intelligence support against insurgents, strengthen joint counter-terrorism initiatives and invest in development and peace-building in conflict-prone areas.

‘The US should work with ECOWAS and the African Union diplomatically; assist in modernising equipment and training for our armed forces.

‘That is partnership. That is respect, and that is how nations create lasting peace,’ he said.

Oshodi advised Nigerians to unite, demand accountability in the war against insurgency and stronger collaborations with the international community.

‘Nigeria is not perfect, but we are not helpless. We are not voiceless, and we are not waiting for foreign permission to rise.

‘We are a nation with pride, capability, and destiny – and we will defend our sovereignty with intelligence, diplomacy, and determination.

‘True friends do not threaten war in the name of justice. They stand beside you, not above you,’ he said.

Seun Lanlege and David Salami, co-founders of Polytope Labs, have achieved global recognition with their blockchain infrastructure solution, Hyperbridge.

While many African blockchain startups focus on local payment solutions, Lanlege and his team are building a foundational global infrastructure designed to fix the long-standing problem of interoperability.

After years of intensive research, the company’s protocol, which tackles one of the blockchain industry’s most complex challenges, was valued at a staggering $200 million.

In the blockchain world, transferring assets from one network, such as Ethereum, to another, like Solana, is difficult, which is the interoperability problem. There are existing solutions known as bridges that have facilitated billions in transactions, but most share a critical security flaw – they are secured by a multisig (multi-signature) architecture.

Lanlege argues that multisig fundamentally defeats the purpose of decentralised blockchain technology because it relies on trust. A multisig setup requires a small group of people or servers to sign off on a transaction.

If these keys or the servers holding them are compromised, as it happened in the $600 million Poly Network hack, the entire bridge and all the funds it controls are vulnerable.

Most existing bridges don’t truly move assets. They simply lock the tokens on the source chain and issue an ‘I owe you’ (IOU0) token on the destination chain. A breach on one side allows hackers to access all users’ locked funds.

Hyperbridge replaces this vulnerable human-controlled system with a truly decentralised bridge secured by complex mathematics and smart contracts.

Instead of relying on human signers, Hyperbridge utilises a network of relayers that collect and verify finality proofs, which are cryptographic evidence that a transaction is permanent from the originating blockchain. The verification process happens on the dedicated Hyperbridge chain.

The key innovation is bidirectional verification, as Hyperbridge not only verifies other chains’ proofs but also generates its own proofs that must be externally validated. This creates a secure, mathematical feedback loop that guarantees every cross-chain transfer is valid on both ends, eliminating the need for a multisig setup.

To handle the immense computational workload of verifying millions of transactions securely, Hyperbridge leverages the Polkadot network. By renting dedicated Coretime (computational power) from Polkadot, Hyperbridge gains the robust validation support needed for scalable interoperability.

The project raised over $5 million in seed and public sales, and it processed $92.4 million in transaction volume.

It has major validation as the Polkadot DAO recently voted to make Hyperbridge the native bridge for the entire Polkadot network, a significant industry endorsement. Hyperbridge supports 14 major blockchains, including Ethereum, Base, and Avalanche.

From launching its first product in Nigeria in 2019 to winning the Grand Prix in the Payments category at Money20/20 USA, Yellow Card is cementing its status as Africa’s leading stablecoin infrastructure provider and a rising global force in digital payments.

At the Money20/20 USA conference held in Las Vegas, Yellow Card stood out among some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including J.P. Morgan Payments, Mastercard, Zerohash, and Mynt, to claim the top award for its innovation and impact on global payments.

The win marked a defining moment not just for the company, but for Africa’s expanding role in shaping the future of financial technology.

In his reaction, Chris Maurice, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card, said, ‘We are incredibly honoured to receive this recognition from Money20/20. This is more than a milestone; it solidifies our place as a key player in the industry and signals the growing global recognition of our mission. None of this would have been possible without our incredible team, partners, investors, and customers. This moment validates what we’ve achieved together and serves as a springboard for what comes next.’

The win crowns a breakthrough year for the company, marked by strategic partnerships with global payment leader Visa, and a major expansion into new markets including, Brazil, India, Mexico, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Yellow Card has also deepened its footprint across Africa, where it operates in 20 countries and continues to serve as a key bridge for financial inclusion and cross-border digital payments.

The company’s B2B infrastructure has been the core engine of its growth, enabling banks, fintechs, and enterprises to move value seamlessly across borders using stablecoins. The company’s technology powers everything from fiat settlement rails and custody wallet services to custom local stablecoin issuance, giving institutions flexible tools to manage global transactions with speed and efficiency.

‘We are only scratching the surface of what’s possible. We haven’t even begun to see how far this technology can go, the efficiencies, the connections, and the new markets it can unlock. If anything, this moment is the beginning of something much larger. And we’re only just getting started,’ said Justin Poiroux, CTO and co-founder of Yellow Card.

Founded in Nigeria in 2019, Yellow Card has grown into one of the largest licensed stablecoin-based payments provider operating in 34 countries, with transaction volumes nearing $6 billion, 99 percent of which are attributable to stablecoins. Its rise from an African fintech startup to a global payments innovator has mirrored the growing acceptance of digital currencies as a trusted means of value transfer, particularly in emerging markets where traditional banking remains fragmented.

The Money20/20 Grand Prix Award is among the most coveted recognitions in the global payments industry. Yellow Card’s victory over long-established global players such as JPMorgan Payments and Mastercard not only highlights its technological edge but also signals a shift in the competitive landscape, where emerging market innovation is now shaping the future of finance.

As the company looks ahead, its leadership believes this recognition will propel further collaboration and adoption across borders.

‘This win is not the finish line. It is a call to go further, to expand what is possible for payments, for stablecoins, and for the millions of people and businesses we aim to serve,’ Maurice said.