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The African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU) Abuja and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) have called for innovation and institutional collaboration to prepare Africa’s aviation industry for digital transformation and emerging technological challenges.

The call was made on Tuesday at the second international conference of the university’s Department of Aviation Business in Abuja.

The Acting Vice-Chancellor of AAAU Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi said the institution was determined to become one that generates knowledge influences policy and contributes to the development of aviation aerospace and environmental science.

He said that sustaining an international academic conference while the university was still in its formative years demonstrated its commitment to research and intellectual development.

He acknowledged NCAT’s support noting that the relationship between the two institutions demonstrated the benefits of collaboration in advancing aviation education.

NCAT Rector Dr Ismaila Danjuma stressed the need for aviation training institutions to adapt to changing industry demands.

He warned that traditional training approaches alone might no longer be sufficient to prepare professionals for emerging challenges.

Danjuma said aviation was changing due to technological innovation evolving regulatory frameworks new safety and security requirements and shifting passenger expectations.

He noted that these developments intersected with Africa’s growing population rising air traffic and regional integration initiatives including the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).

He said the changing landscape required aviation training institutions to strengthen research innovation and professional development while building closer relationships with universities regulators and industry operators.

Danjuma explained that the competence of pilots aircraft engineers air traffic controllers flight dispatchers safety inspectors managers and regulators ultimately determined the safety and efficiency of the aviation system.

He said NCAT has spent over 60 years developing aviation professionals for Nigeria and other African countries adding that the institution’s status as an International Civil Aviation Organisation Regional Training Centre of Excellence with Platinum status reflected its role in aviation capacity development.

He said however that the college recognised the need to move beyond preparing professionals for existing responsibilities to equipping them for emerging opportunities and challenges.

‘We must move from training for current tasks to training for emerging challenges and opportunities’.

He added that research innovation and continuous professional development must become integral to aviation training with academic conferences providing opportunities to share findings that could inform industry practices and policy decisions.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo reaffirmed his commitment to growing the aviation sector.

The minister represented by the ministry’s Deputy Director of Planning Research and Statistics Shittu Ayodeji said digital transformation and sustainability are critical to the future of Africa’s multimodal transport system.

The Director of the City Boy Movement in the United Kingdom Prince Bidemi Akintunde has said family support should remain separate from political disagreements urging Nigerians abroad to continue assisting their loved ones regardless of which party is in power.

Prince Akintunde popularly known as Stainless said remittances from Nigerians abroad should remain an expression of love responsibility gratitude and solidarity rather than a means of influencing family members’ political choices.

He noted that Nigerians in the diaspora have a long history of working hard and making sacrifices to support their parents children siblings relatives and communities stressing that political affiliations should not determine such assistance.

‘My position is straightforward: Nigerians abroad should continue to support their families back home according to their financial means regardless of which political party is in power. Family welfare should never be held hostage to political campaigns’ he said.

Akintunde also expressed support for President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda stating that he believes Nigerians are beginning to recognise and benefit from the administration’s policies.

He argued that vulnerable family members should not bear the consequences of political disagreements citing the need to support parents who require medication and fathers who provide for their spouses and children from abroad.

The City Boy Movement director further called on political leaders to advance their positions through credible policies constructive engagement and clear visions for national development rather than encouraging actions that could place additional financial pressure on families.

‘I believe Nigerians living abroad should continue to support their families back home according to their financial ability. Our parents children brothers sisters and relatives should not become victims of political disagreements. Sending money home is an act of love responsibility and solidarity not a declaration of support for any political party’ he said.

He added that supporting family members financially does not prevent Nigerians from demanding accountability from the government or exercising their democratic rights.

‘You can support your family and still demand accountability from the government. You can send money home and still exercise your democratic right to vote. You can stand with your loved ones without surrendering your political independence’ Akintunde stated.

He also expressed support for Tinubu’s commitment to economic reform national development and greater engagement with Nigerians at home and in the diaspora.

According to him the administration should be given a fair opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of its policies through measurable improvements in living standards employment healthcare education infrastructure and economic opportunities.

Akintunde maintained that Nigeria’s future would be stronger if the government created opportunities for citizens to prosper families continued to support one another and Nigerians at home and abroad worked together despite their political differences.

He said the country’s progress would depend on cooperation effective governance and a willingness to place national interests above political rivalry.

‘Let us support our families because we love them. Let us support policies that can move Nigeria forward because we want our country to succeed. And let us judge political leaders by their integrity their policies and the results they deliver not that Nigerians abroad should stop caring for their loved ones’ he said.

Reaffirming his support for President Tinubu Akintunde called on Nigerians to continue supporting the administration’s efforts to build a more prosperous country while maintaining their commitment to their families.

He emphasised that family welfare should never be used as leverage in political campaigns adding that parents should not be treated as campaign tools children’s education should not become a bargaining chip and access to healthcare should not depend on political preferences.

‘We can support President Tinubu encourage national progress demand better governance and continue helping our families all at the same time’ he said.

Akintunde concluded by calling for unity among Nigerians at home and abroad and offering prayers for Nigerian families President Tinubu and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan former Kano State Governor Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and former Delta State Governor Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa joined the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria (FFDGN) in calling for an urgent end to political divisions executive friction and character-deficient leadership in the country.

Speaking on Tuesday at the 5th National Conference of the FFDGN in Abuja key political figures and former state executives emphasised that bridging the widening disconnect between those who lead and those they lead requires institutional reform moral re-engineering and people-centred stewardship.

The conference was themed ‘Rethinking Nation-Building: Bridging the Leadership-Citizen Disconnect through Orientation Attitude Character Culture and Tradition for Sustainable Development.’

Serving as Co-Chairman of the event alongside former Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari former Delta State Governor Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa stressed that a persistent gap between policy formulation and everyday reality has severely eroded public trust.

‘There is usually a gulf between policy formulation implementation and citizens’ everyday life’ Okowa stated. ‘Over the years our citizens have rightly or wrongly felt disconnected from governance as their expectations needs and aspirations appear not to have been reasonably met. The consequence is a weakening of the social contract between the state and its citizens.’

Okowa called for an immediate shift from government-centred development to a people-centred model demanding active roles for young people in decision-making.

‘We must provide enough space for the participation of our young people by empowering them deliberately as architects of now and the future rather than seeing them as spectators in the present’ Okowa declared. ‘Nation building is the collective responsibility of everyone who calls this country home and not the exclusive responsibility of those who occupy public office.’

Reinforcing Okowa’s stance FFDGN National Chairman Dr. Chris Alozie Akomas warned that budgets and legislation alone cannot fix the nation’s core issues without an ethical anchor.

‘We speak of sustainable development but no nation can develop when its people feel alienated from its story’ Akomas declared. ‘Policies do not transform a nation people do. Budgets do not build a society; character does. Power without character is very destructive and governance without empathy is an empty shell.’

Akomas urged public officeholders to replace political arrogance with humility while FFDGN Director-General Hon. Kenneth Ibe-Kalu said the non-partisan forum is committed to enforcing civic education and curbing societal indiscipline.

‘We are deeply concerned that the disconnect between leadership and our citizens is alarmingly on the rise’ Ibe-Kalu noted. ‘We must mirror society to our leaders and decisively halt current decadence by proactively promoting civic education celebrating rectitude and systematically checking indiscipline and untoward behaviour in society.’

In his address as Grand Patron of the Forum delivered by former Adamawa State Deputy Governor Bala James Ngilale Dr Goodluck Jonathan emphasised that governance must focus on institutional strength rather than personal ambition.

‘As a former deputy governor and governor of Bayelsa State before becoming vice president and subsequently president of Nigeria I understand the opportunities and challenges associated with the office of deputy governor’ Jonathan stated. ‘The experience teaches patience loyalty consultation and teamwork. Above all it reminds us that governance is not about one individual but about strong institutions and service to the people.’

Jonathan urged political leaders to rise above ethnic religious and regional divisions tasking former deputy governors with mentoring emerging young leaders.

Contributing to the dialogue Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje attributed political instability to the ideological emptiness of political parties and frequent defections.

‘Are political parties truly strong democratic institutions when they lack clear ideologies?’ Ganduje questioned. ‘If we examine them critically there are hardly any significant ideological differences among the political parties. That is why people move from one party to another flying from one tree to another.’

Ganduje also condemned the friction between sitting governors and their predecessors which results in abandoned projects: ‘When a new governor comes into office the previous administration’s projects and programmes may be abandoned or reversed. There is therefore no continuity. Yet continuity leads to consolidation and consolidation leads to sustainable development.’

Addressing the judiciary Ganduje added: ‘Even the judiciary as an institution of democracy raises concerns. I wonder who will reform the judiciary in this country because the person expected to reform it may also be afraid of the judiciary having to rely on the same institution.’

Concluding the conference FFDGN leaders resolved to leverage their institutional memory to submit formal recommendations for constitutional review to the National Assembly while seeking strategic partnerships with international organizations to drive sustainable development across Nigeria.

Rivers United returned to the top of the Nigeria Premier Football League yesterday after a goalless draw with Barau FC in Port Harcourt.

Heavy rain had stopped the Week 9 fixture after 75 minutes on Sunday. The teams returned the following morning for the remaining 15 minutes but neither could break the deadlock. The point took Rivers to 17 from nine matches with four wins and five draws. Finidi George’s side remain unbeaten and have conceded only twice in the league.

Rivers United’s Assistant coach Yemi Olanrewaju felt the hosts had let a victory slip away before the weather intervened. ‘We had two glaring chances we could have converted in the first half before they resorted to time-wasting because they didn’t come here to play’ he said.

Olanrewaju nevertheless backed the team to respond. ‘We will bounce back. It’s a marathon; there is no big deal. We’ve also gone out to pick points elsewhere. We will be back to winning ways.’

The result leaves Rangers International also on 17 points having played one fewer league match because of their continental commitments. But the Flying Antelopes are second on goals difference despite being on the same points with Rivers United.

Barau however moved to 14 points and to the fifth spot after the valuable away result in Port Harcourt.

Ghana international Antoine Semenyo’s injury status has been updated by Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca after the forward picked up a knee issue against Ipswich Town.

The Italian tactician expressed hope that the setback is not serious after the English Premier League clash emphasizing that the 26-year-old winger remains a vital figure in his team’s setup.

While other players who suffered minor knocks during the match received all-clears Semenyo was slated for further medical examination to properly assess the damage.

‘Hopefully they [Semenyo and Haaland] are good but they are big players for us’ Maresca said. ‘Same for any team losing their best two players. It’s difficult for everyone but we’ll see what’s happened and hopefully find a solution.’

Semenyo will be undergoing medical assessments to determine the severity of his knee injury while City prepare to host AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League on October 20.

‘I asked all of them. Mateo [Kovacic] said he was okay Matheus [Nunes] said he was okay Erling [Haaland] said he was also okay. Nico [O’Reilly] it’s still his back. The only one we need to wait on was Antoine [Semenyo] and we will see’ Maresca added.

The Ogun State Community Social Orientation and Safety Corps codenamed ‘So-Safe Corps’ has apprehended a 21-year-old man Adebayo Pelumi over the alleged theft of two iron pots used by caterers and a power bank with its charger in Iyesi Ota.

In a statement the Director of Information and Public Relations of the Corps ACC Adegunwa Adegbuyi said the suspect was apprehended last Sunday around Abiola Gas Line Iyesi Ota following efforts by officers of the Canaan City Division to locate him after he had been at large in connection with an alleged theft case reported from Arobi Eye.

According to Adegbuyi information about the suspect’s whereabouts was received in the early hours of the day while the Divisional Officer SC Tajudeen Abdulkereem alongside his team was on routine patrol.

He said: ‘Although the suspect was initially sighted on a motorcycle they reportedly lost sight of him before he could be apprehended.

‘A search of the surrounding area was subsequently conducted during which the two iron pots were recovered. The suspect was later discovered hiding in the area but attempted to evade arrest. In an attempt to escape the suspect allegedly jumped over several fences but was eventually apprehended by the officers.

‘Subsequently it was further indicated that the suspect stole a power bank with its charger during the incident.

‘The suspect who reportedly hails from Aiyetoro Ogun State and works as a plumber was arrested and taken into custody for further investigation.

‘Other items reportedly recovered from the suspect included two Android mobile phones a phone charger an OPay ATM card a voter’s card different bunches of keys two MTN SIM cards and several receipts bearing no name identifying the suspect.

‘The suspect and the recovered items were subsequently handed over to the Nigeria Police Force Onipanu Divisional Headquarters for further investigation and appropriate action.’

He however reiterated commitment of the Corps to protecting lives and property and urged the public to remain vigilant and cooperate with security agencies by providing credible information that could assist in preventing and combating criminal activities within their communities.

Argentine official Adriana Alvarez will take centre stage this evening for Nigeria’s crucial FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Group B encounter against Puerto Rico at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat.

This will be Alvarez ‘s very first official assignment as a head referee at the on-going 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Her most recent international matches prior to this tournament were during the South American U-20 Women’s Championship earlier this year.

Alvarez will lead an all-South American officiating team alongside Assistant Referee 1 Daiana Milone with kick-off scheduled for 7:00pm Nigeria time.

Following a disappointing defeat against Poland in their last group outing Flamingos found themselves under immense pressure to react.

Nothing short of a decisive victory against Puerto Rico will keep Nigeria’s campaign on track. A win is essential if the Flamingoes hope to navigate their way out of Group B and launch a deep run into the knockout stages of the tournament.

The Flamingos’ final Group B match will be against former champions North Korea on October 23rd.

With 33 of the 36 state governors making grand appearances at the All Progressives Congress’s expanded Presidential Campaign Council last week it seems finally that the time has come to separate the men from the boys. Aside the pomp and panoply the message and the messaging from the grand affair could not have been clearer: hardship – whether orchestrated or not and despite the opposition’s trenchant attempt to make the presidential election a ‘one-liner’ referendum on fuel subsidy; the ruling All Progressives Congress far from yielding quarters in the battle for the mind of the electorate is even now more unlikely to suffer the dishevelled opposition to their devious campaigns of misinformation and manipulation. One would be right to call it as the party’s H-Hour!

Surely a 108-member presidential campaign council by the ruling party could not have been any less remarkable; but then the idea of 33 Generals right there at the battle front commanding the troops would even at the best of time been unimaginable except that the leader to whom they have pledged their support is someone that has truly earned their loyalty.

It is perhaps expected that the opposition would more than fulminate: ‘The ruling party was undermining Nigeria’s multiparty democracy by coercing opposition governors into its fold or incorporating them into its presidential campaign council despite their refusal to defect from their respective political parties’. That was Kola Ologbondiyan the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC)’s Presidential Campaign Council director of media and publicity reacting to the inauguration.

‘What we are witnessing is not politics but political abduction’ he also said adding ‘You cannot claim to be a democrat while using state power to force opposition governors into your party and then drafting them into your campaign council. This is political banditry.’

The ADC chieftain probably forgot that it was his beloved ADC that actually introduced banditry into the nation’s political lexicon when his principal and his henchmen not only undertook a hostile takeover of the original ADC but turned it into a Special Purpose Vehicle SPV for realising the ambition of one man – Atiku Abubakar.

His co-traveller in the Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC -the Director of New Media and Strategic Communications of the Seriake Dickson-owned vehicle of convenience adopted by Peter Obi to realise his presidential dream Theo Abu Agada has been no less accusatory: His party couldn’t be bothered by the composition of the APC-PCC. ‘If the party likes let it name Elon Musk as its DG and all the moneybags in the country as its members we will still beat them silly in 2027′.

Really?

Why not push ahead with your party programmes while ignoring what is clearly no business of yours?

Surely the opposition parties are rattled: they have neither the spread nor the logistical dexterity that could in any way match those of the APC. Even their messages on the subsidy and the cost of living crisis have since frayed or better still hollowed out in the absence of abiding conviction and opportunistic posturing.

Moreover warts and all Nigerians surely know who their governors are supporting and why. The ruling APC has 31 out of the 36 governors in its fold and with it an unqualified advantage in spread and logistics hence the expectation that they will at least support their own as they surely have! That anyone would dare to suggest that this would hardly matter in electoral calculations is to take residence in fools’ paradise. This is something that the NDC with its disdain for structures and its ADC counterpart with its overhyped sense of relevance will have to learn in the hard way.

But then that is hardly the main reason the governors including some in the opposition have signed on to support the president. Perhaps more than the two individuals trenchantly insisting on their divinely ordained right to the presidential seat the governors have seen the system at close range to appreciate the imperatives of the moment and why the incumbent president Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs more time to push through his reform agenda.

Surely they have come to know what President Tinubu represents particularly his governing philosophy and what this means for a republic only now steadily healing from the trauma of a political structure rooted in centrism. They recognise in him the very bold ideas without which the country would remain a fringe player in the comity of nations; a laser-focused leader neither given to distractions nor frivolities in his bid to get the job done. And as against our emergency citizen-minders they recognise an empathetic leader who understands why some difficult choices needed to be made to guarantee the country a fair chance of survival; a leader who did not hesitate to take the bullet so they the governors could have some respite.

This is where Nigerians could have been presented with a starker choice. Between a Peter Obi who wants the campus life-saver NELFUND out for being wasteful (although he would not commit to scrapping it entirely); an Atiku Abubakar who on his part says NELFUND is more of liabilities rather than true solutions to educational financing. Interestingly neither of them would state exactly how the fund has made its beneficiary poorer or render the burden unbearable; nonetheless they want it out not necessarily because the policy is bad but simply because man they love to hate is the author. Even the duo insists that the Lagos- Calabar Highway is a non-starter and the Lagos-Badagry expressway is the stuff of the dreamland.

Finally on the subsidy question of which the duo has been most vociferous they have still not told Nigerians how its return would impact on our domestic consumption and how they will manage the differential pricing between us and our ECOWAS neighbours without triggering unprecedented cross-border smuggling that is bound to arise therefrom.

Yes it is the opposition’s prerogative to live in denial of the achievements of the Tinubu administration in infrastructure in social intervention as indeed other spheres of governance. It is however Nigerians right to know what the administration has done in the last 40 months. Indeed Nigerians ought to be able to choose between vile propaganda of the opposition and real achievement on the ground. Afrer all – two sorry I mean three can play!

Kebbi State Governor Comrade Dr. Nasir Idris Kauran Gwandu has flagged off the construction and upgrading of six major access roads across Birnin Kebbi Kalgo and Bunza Local Government Areas.

The flag-off ceremony held on Tuesday marks another milestone in the administration’s drive to improve rural and urban connectivity and deliver the dividends of democracy.

Governor Idris said the road projects were designed to ease transport connect communities boost agricultural productivity and stimulate trade and commerce across the state.

‘The construction of these roads will bring communities closer together and create opportunities for our people to excel in agriculture trade and other economic activities. Improved road infrastructure is essential to economic development’ he said.

The projects include the Aliero Quarters Road; roads behind Azbir Arena; the Old Garage area behind Texaco; the Birnin Kebbi Police Station Junction to Nagari College road; the Unguwa Jeji-Gayi-Diggi-Maidahini road; and the strategic 58-kilometre Bunza-Zogirma-Makera road.

The Governor noted that although the 58km Bunza-Zogirma-Makera road was not part of his original campaign promises its economic importance compelled his administration to award the contract to M/S China Zhonghao Nigeria Limited.

According to him the road will open up farming communities facilitate the movement of agricultural produce and enhance commercial activities within Kebbi and beyond.

In his remarks the Commissioner for Works Hon. Engr. Umar Farouk Muslim assured that the projects would be executed to specifications and quality standards.

He said the Ministry would ensure strict compliance with contract terms adding that the projects would improve transport boost private enterprise promote agricultural development and increase the state’s internally generated revenue.

The flag-off further underscores the Nasir Idris administration’s commitment to infrastructure development as a catalyst for economic growth and improved welfare.

Rangers International yesterday left for Algeria giving Fidelis Ilechukwu’s side several days to prepare for Friday’s CAF Champions League return leg against MC Alger. The early travel should help Ilechukwu get his players ready for the conditions and atmosphere in Algiers.

The Flying Antelopes travel with a 2-0 advantage earned in Abeokuta on Sunday. After goalkeeper Lucky Jimoh’s early dismissal they resisted MC Alger’s pressure and struck twice late on through Kenneth Igboke from the penalty spot and James Emo.

Meanwhile General Manager Amobi Ezeaku welcomed both the result and the team’s resolve but cautioned that Rangers still have a difficult match to play.

‘It’s far from over because we are going to a hostile Algiers on Friday night to also fight through the hurdles’ he said.

He described the squad as young and determined adding that its response to playing much of the first half with 10 men reflected the mentality the club has worked to build. ‘They fought with every fibre in them and that’s the spirit of our club the spirit of never-say-die’ he said.

Separately Rangers have petitioned the Confederation of African Football over the conduct of MC Alger supporters during Sunday’s second preliminary-round first leg at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta.

The Enugu club alleged that visiting supporters damaged seats and an entrance gate entered restricted areas and caused other disturbances following MC Alger’s defeat.

Rangers have asked CAF to investigate and consider measures to protect players officials and supporters at Friday’s return match in Algiers.

Reports also say the club has requested that the second leg be played behind closed doors; CAF had not announced a decision on that request at the time of writing.

Rangers say they remain committed to fair play and are awaiting CAF’s response. For the club the concern extends beyond damage at the Abeokuta venue: it wants the decisive second leg played in conditions that allow both teams to compete safely.