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Reversing Nigeria’s economic reforms would undermine investor confidence, weaken fiscal stability, and destabilise the foreign-exchange market, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned, urging the Federal Government to sustain the reform trajectory while refining its implementation.

The warning was contained in CPPE’s assessment of the Federal Government’s economic reform scorecard, where the private-sector advocacy group said abandoning the reforms could reintroduce the distortions they were designed to correct and trigger significant economic dislocation.

According to Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of CPPE, the reforms have delivered measurable macroeconomic gains, including stronger government revenues, greater stability in the foreign-exchange market, improved external reserves, an expanded trade surplus, and a recovery in investor confidence.

Real GDP growth also strengthened to 3.89 percent in the first quarter of 2026, from 3.13 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

However, CPPE said the gains in macroeconomic stability have yet to fully translate into improved welfare for households and lower operating costs for businesses.

‘Macroeconomic stability is a means, not an end,’ the group said, noting that the ultimate test of the reforms would be their ability to deliver higher productivity, stronger investment, more jobs, lower poverty, and improved living standards.

CPPE said purchasing power remains under pressure, while businesses continue to grapple with high energy, financing, logistics, and regulatory costs.

It therefore called for the next phase of reforms to focus more strongly on productivity and competitiveness, arguing that Nigeria’s structural constraints must now take centre stage.

Supply-side constraints threaten growth

The organisation identified electricity, logistics, insecurity, agricultural productivity, infrastructure, regulatory costs and the cost of capital as major structural constraints that need urgent attention.

It pointed to the 15.3 percent contraction in the electricity sector in Q1 2026, even as manufacturing grew by 3.29 percent and agriculture expanded by 3.15 percent.

CPPE said accelerating productive-sector growth would require a decisive reduction in these structural costs.

It also urged the government to pursue trade policies that support domestic productive capacity by providing calibrated protection to industries and agricultural producers with credible local capacity against unfair import competition, while maintaining competitive access to critical inputs that cannot yet be adequately sourced locally.

On financing costs, CPPE said the prevailing high-interest-rate environment remains a major challenge for businesses.

It argued that moderating inflation, alongside stronger fiscal-monetary coordination, should create room for a gradual easing of financing costs without jeopardising macroeconomic stability.

States urged to turn higher revenues into development

CPPE also raised concerns about the use of increased fiscal resources at the subnational level.

It noted that reforms have significantly expanded the fiscal space of state governments through higher statutory allocations and, in many cases, stronger internally generated revenues.

The group said the additional resources should translate into visible improvements in roads, healthcare, public transportation, education, agricultural infrastructure, security, power, and enterprise support.

‘Higher revenues must produce a visible development and welfare dividend,’ CPPE said, warning against allowing increased revenues to simply finance higher recurrent expenditure and prestige projects.

While CPPE rejected any reversal of the reforms, it stressed that the policy framework must remain flexible enough to respond to emerging economic realities.

The organisation said reform instruments should be continuously recalibrated based on evidence, implementation experience, and their impact on businesses and households.

Its position emphasizes Nigeria’s next reform phase on moving beyond headline macroeconomic indicators towards tangible improvements in productivity, incomes and living standards.

‘The next phase must move decisively from stabilisation to productivity; from higher government revenues to better development outcomes; and from improving macroeconomic indicators to tangible gains in jobs, incomes, and living standards,’ CPPE said.

…Float packages that may help students set up businesses at adult age

Capital Portfolio and Investment Systems (CAPIS) Limited has sealed a partnership deal with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to develop private schools in Nigeria. The highlight was the setting up of a N5bn ‘Entrepreneurship Education Fund’.

The partnership was sealed last week in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-South Nigeria to move from education to building generational prosperity. The event was highlighted by the unveiling of a N5bn Endowment Fund to offer grants to participating but qualified schools.

According to Paul Adonis Peters, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of CAPIS Limited, the scheme is created to help any child discover his/her talents and invest in it.

He said: ‘I invite you to imagine a child. Not a particular child. Any Nigerian child. Imagine that child beginning nursery school today. Like every parent, we hope that child will receive a quality education. We hope that child will discover his talents. We hope that child will become responsible. We hope that child will graduate with distinction. But then comes the question that every family eventually confronts.

CAPIS and NAPPS officials at the signing of the MoU.

‘What happens after education? What happens when knowledge meets the reality of limited opportunity? What happens when ambition encounters the absence of capital? What happens when talent has nowhere to grow? Ladies and gentlemen, that question is why we are here today. Because education should never end in frustration. Education should end in opportunity.’

He said opportunity should lead to enterprise; and that enterprise should create prosperity. ‘That is the future we have come together to build. Throughout history, every civilisation that achieved lasting prosperity understood one fundamental truth.

‘The greatest investment is not in buildings. It is not in oil. It is not in minerals. It is not even in technology. The greatest investment any society can ever make is the investment it makes in people. Every skyscraper first existed in someone’s imagination. Every scientific breakthrough began as curiosity inside a classroom. Every successful enterprise began as an idea in someone’s mind. If we desire a prosperous Nigeria, then we must first build prosperous minds. That responsibility belongs to education. But education alone is no longer sufficient.’

Peters said noted that the 21st century demands something more. ‘It demands innovation. It demands resilience. It demands creativity. It demands entrepreneurship. Our children will inherit a world transformed by artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology and industries that do not yet exist. The jobs many of them will occupy have not yet been invented. The businesses they will build have not yet been imagined. Therefore, our responsibility is no longer merely to educate children. Our responsibility is to prepare them to create the future. That is why entrepreneurship education can no longer be optional. It must become part of how we educate.

Okeoma Ebelechukwu Opusunju

‘This conviction led CAPIS to ask a simple but profound question. What if education and access to capital were intentionally connected? What if a child could receive an excellent education and also begin adulthood with a stronger financial foundation? What if schools themselves could gain access to sustainable funding that improves educational quality?

What if entrepreneurship became part of the educational journey rather than something discovered years after graduation?’

The CEO said those questions became a vision. ‘That vision became a partnership. today that partnership becomes reality. There could not have been a better partner than the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools. Across Nigeria, private schools have become indispensable partners in nation building. Long before many children become engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists or entrepreneurs… Someone opened a classroom.

‘Someone employed a teacher. Someone believed that education could transform lives. That someone is you. To every proprietor present here today, I salute your commitment. I salute your sacrifice. And today I salute your willingness to become partners in shaping Nigeria’s future.’

At CAPIS, he stated, ‘We often say, we do not merely provide access to capital. We create pathways to opportunity. As a Securities and Exchange Commission licensed Venture Capital Manager, we understand that responsible capital has the power to transform lives when combined with sound governance, discipline and vision. That philosophy gave birth to the Kids Capital Trust. The KCT is more than a financial product. It is an expression of hope. It is a declaration that every child deserves not only education but also the opportunity to begin adult life on a stronger financial foundation.’

Going further, he said, ‘today we formally launch the Entrepreneurship Education Fund. Permit me to say something that I hope will be remembered long after this ceremony. The Entrepreneurship Education Fund is not a programme. It is not an intervention. It is not an event. It is an institution.

‘Institutions change nations. Institutions outlive governments. Institutions outlive founders. Institutions preserve vision across generations. That is exactly what this Fund has been designed to become. A perpetual educational endowment that will continue strengthening schools while preserving its capital for future generations.

‘Great institutions are not built merely by good intentions. They are built by good governance. That is why today we also launch the Entrepreneurship Education Fund Governance Charter. This Charter is more than a governance document. It is a covenant. A covenant that this Fund shall always be governed by transparency. By accountability. By stewardship. By integrity. By professional excellence.

Because trust is the currency upon which enduring institutions are built.’

On the partnership with NAPPS, Peters said: ‘To our distinguished NAPPS leaders across the South-South, your presence here carries significance far beyond today’s programme. You are not merely witnessing a launch. You are carrying a vision back to your respective states. May today’s gathering become the spark that ignites educational transformation throughout Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo and beyond. May future generations remember that the South-South chose to lead.

‘Permit me now to speak directly to the young people whose future we seek to shape. Although many of you are not physically present here today, every decision we take is about you. We believe in your potential. We believe your ideas matter. We believe your dreams deserve opportunity. We believe Nigeria’s greatest resource is not beneath our soil. Nigeria’s greatest resource sits inside our classrooms. And together, we will help unlock that potential.

‘As I conclude, allow me to leave you with one final thought. Planting a tree is an act of faith. The person who plants it knows someone else may enjoy its shade. Yet they plant it anyway. today, CAPIS and NAPPS are planting a tree. A tree whose roots are education. Whose trunk is entrepreneurship. Whose branches are opportunity. Whose fruit is prosperity. May generations yet unborn rest beneath its shade.

‘May they remember that visionary educators and responsible institutions once came together and decided that Nigeria’s future was worth investing in. Let history record that on the 18th day of August 2026, in Rivers State, the journey from Education to Enterprise gathered momentum. May God bless NAPPS. May God bless CAPIS Limited. May God bless every child whose future will be touched by this partnership. May God bless Rivers State.’

Explaining the scheme earlier what she called official presentation of the CAPIS-NAPPS partnership, Okeoma Ebelechukwu Opusunju, said the overriding vision of CAPIS Limited as a venture capital firm is to invest in businesses and sectors that solve real market frictions, facilitate capital accumulation, and expand access to capital through our platform access services, thereby creating opportunities for financial inclusion and meaningful economic participation.

‘As a responsible venture capital firm licensed and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, we believe that expanding access to capital through productive economic activities provides one of the most sustainable pathways to addressing rising poverty in Nigeria. When more people are equipped with access to capital and opportunities to participate productively in the economy, we create the conditions for individuals, families, businesses, and communities to prosper.’

She said the Kids Capital Trust (KCT) represents one of CAPIS’s flagship platform access services. ‘It combines access to capital with ongoing financial and investment advisory support to provide an enabling foundation for every successive generation to achieve greater financial outcomes.

‘This is what the KCT represents: an oasis of manifold opportunities crafted by CAPIS, gifted by parents to their children, and ultimately received by tomorrow’s young adults as a foundation upon which they can build an excellent life. The KCT is, in essence, a gift that continues to create opportunities across generations.’

She said the NAPPS is the apex association representing proprietors of private schools in Nigeria. ‘Collectively, its members have played a significant role in shaping Nigeria’s educational landscape and in sustaining the private education sector through periods of significant national challenge. No nation can achieve sustainable development without sustained and substantial investment in education.

‘Education remains the foundation upon which human capital, innovation, entrepreneurship, productivity, and national prosperity are built. The CAPIS-NAPPS Strategic Partnership is therefore a partnership founded on a shared understanding that education and economic empowerment must advance together. Discussions around this strategic partnership commenced in 2021 and culminated in the signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement between NAPPS Rivers State Chapter and CAPIS Limited on 9 March 2022.’

She further stated thus: ‘today also marks the birth of the Entrepreneurship Education Fund (EEF), a perpetual education endowment fund established to support qualitative and sustainable educational development across the private school sector, for this generation and for successive generations. The EEF represents our shared conviction that the future of education cannot depend solely on today’s resources. We must build institutions and financial structures capable of supporting educational development long into the future. Through the EEF, we seek to create a sustainable mechanism for supporting innovation, strengthening educational institutions, promoting entrepreneurship education, and contributing to the continuous development of the private education sector.’

In his welcome speech, Adafe Sunday Jaja, chairman, chairman of NAPPS, said the day marked a significant milestone in the journey of private education in our state and across the South-South region. ‘Your presence here is a testament to our shared belief that education remains the most powerful investment any society can make. I extend a special welcome to our distinguished NAPPS leaders from Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Akwa Ibom States. Your presence demonstrates the unity of purpose that defines our Association and reinforces our collective commitment to advancing educational excellence throughout our region.

‘I also warmly welcome the leadership of CAPIS Limited, our strategic partner, whose vision and commitment have made today’s gathering possible. Ladies and gentlemen, Private schools have consistently played a vital role in complementing government efforts to provide quality education for our children.’

He said however, they also recognise that the challenges facing education today required more than traditional solutions. ‘They require innovation. They require collaboration. They require strategic partnerships that extend beyond the classroom.

‘That is why NAPPS Rivers State embraced this partnership with CAPIS. This collaboration is about more than financial services. It is about creating opportunities for our schools, empowering parents, preparing our children for the future and strengthening the educational ecosystem through sustainable initiatives.

‘One of the most exciting outcomes of this partnership is the establishment of the Entrepreneurship Education Fund. The launch of this Fund reflects a shared commitment to nurturing entrepreneurial thinking among our young people while supporting educational development through a sustainable and professionally governed framework.

‘We believe that education should equip children not only with knowledge but also with the confidence, creativity and entrepreneurial mindset required to succeed in a rapidly changing world.’

As school proprietors, he went on, ‘We are not merely custodians of educational institutions. We are moulders of character. We are builders of future leaders. We are partners in nation building. The CAPIS-NAPPS Strategic Partnership provides us with another opportunity to fulfil this responsibility with even greater impact. On behalf of NAPPS Rivers State Chapter, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to the leadership of CAPIS Limited for their confidence in our Association and for their unwavering commitment to building a partnership founded on mutual trust, transparency and shared values.’

He commended the president and leadership of NAPPS South-South Zone for their steadfast support and encouragement, which he said had been instrumental in bringing this initiative to fruition.

‘today is not the end of a process. It is the beginning of a journey. A journey that we believe will create lasting value for schools, parents, pupils and generations yet unborn. As we proceed with today’s programme, I encourage every stakeholder present to embrace this vision and become an active participant in its success. Together, we can build stronger schools. Together, we can raise more innovative young people. Together, we can contribute meaningfully to the future prosperity of our nation. Once again, I warmly welcome you all to Rivers State and to this landmark event.’

Officials of the SEC were on hand to explain the status of CAPIS, saying the organization is fully registered and recognized by them. Goodwill messages also came from state branches and the royal father of Woji community, each commending the vision in the strategic scheme from CAPIS and their partner, NAPPS.

Elizabeth Olowokandi, a UK-based physician, Imperial College MPH graduate, and global health advocate, in this interview with KENNETH ATHEKAME spoke on why Nigeria’s healthcare crisis is fundamentally an operational failure; how the medical exodus is affecting misdiagnosed, and why fixing primary healthcare is the country’s best economic investment. She also discussed how Nigeria can practically transform its diaspora into a net-positive economic asset rather than allowing the country to lose valuable human capital and investment opportunities. Excerpts:

You left LASUTH to practise in the UK NHS, joining thousands of Nigerian doctors practising abroad. Isn’t it hypocritical to advocate for health reform in Nigeria from the safety and comfort of the NHS?

My time at LASUTH exposed me to raw systemic scarcity- patients waiting from 5:00 AM without guaranteed care and families buying basic cotton wool out-of-pocket. Transitioning to the NHS didn’t erase that reality; it exposed the gap between structural failure and operational efficiency. Resourcefulness is not a substitute for standard infrastructure. My conviction that Nigeria can fix its system stems from knowing that the primary deficit isn’t talent or ideas, it is political will and targeted capital allocation.

Nigeria’s medical exodus is routinely called a national crisis. Is calling it ‘brain drain’ just an excuse for the state’s failure to pay competitive wages?

Framing this purely as ‘brain drain’ oversimplifies a structural collapse. The government relies on the uncompensated goodwill of clinicians, operating in environments defined by unpaid salaries, severe understaffing, and zero personal safety. Health workers aren’t just leaving low pay; they are fleeing an environment that actively penalises them for system-level failures.

How can Nigeria practically turn its diaspora into a net-positive economic asset rather than a lost investment?

‘Brain circulation’ only works if Nigeria builds intentional, formal frameworks similar to India or Ireland. They created visiting consultant programs, fellowship schemes, and structured research partnerships. Nigeria has vast networks like ABMA and ANPA, but lacks a centralized, government-backed framework to systematically plug diaspora clinical expertise and capital back into local institutions.

The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) exists, yet primary health centers (PHCs) remain dilapidated. Where is the money going?

It disappears into bureaucratic black holes and overlapping mandates between federal, state, and local governments. When a PHC runs out of essential drugs or a nurse goes unpaid, no single entity takes ownership. Throwing funds at PHCs without strict, facility-level monitoring and public accountability achieves nothing.

With a severe doctor deficit, is expecting every Nigerian PHC to have a resident physician a pipe dream?

Yes, direct doctor-led primary care across every ward is mathematically unrealistic right now. Nigeria must formalize task-shifting. Properly trained, equipped, and supervised Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and nurses can manage up to 80% of common conditions like malaria, hypertension, and diarrhoeal diseases. Doctors should operate strictly in supervisory and high-risk escalation roles.

Can Nigeria successfully adapt the UK’s General Practice (GP) model, or is our health architecture too fundamentally different?

The architecture must be local, but the core principle of primary care as a strict gateway to prevent tertiary hospitals from clogging is non-negotiable. Patients bypass Nigerian PHCs because they lack trust in finding medicine or basic care. If you build clinical reliability at the primary level, you protect teaching hospitals from collapse.

Digital health and AI are touted as silver bullets. Won’t these technologies simply widen the inequality gap between urban and rural patients?

Not if deployed correctly. Digital health isn’t about giving every patient an iPhone app; it’s about digitizing the back end. Unified Electronic Health Records (EHR) across PHCs eliminate paper loss and streamline decision-making. Simple AI-assisted diagnostics for tuberculosis or cervical cancer can empower rural health workers to screen accurately without a specialist on site.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) remains a distant dream for informal workers. Should health insurance be made strictly mandatory for all citizens?

Mandating coverage without fixing service quality is selling an empty promise. The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) was built around formal sector payroll deductions, which excludes market traders, farmers, and artisans. We need flexible, community-based insurance schemes paired with direct government subsidies for the indigent and faster claims processing for providers.

Beyond social welfare, how does Nigeria transform its healthcare sector into a profitable engine for economic growth?

By capturing value across the supply chain instead of subsidizing the training of doctors for export. Nigeria can build a domestic health manufacturing strategy for pharmaceuticals and basic diagnostics to cut import dependence, capture regional medical tourism within West Africa, and position itself as a hub for clinical trials focused on African genetics.

If you held direct authority over the Federal Ministry of Health for the next 12 months, what three non-negotiable priorities would you enforce?

First, guarantee predictable, on-time monthly payroll for all primary healthcare workers to stem immediate frontline attrition. Second, mandate basic Electronic Health Records across high-burden PHCs to establish actual baseline data. Third, enforce the transparent release of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund with publicly trackable reporting down to individual facilities.

Tanzania commissioned a new 2,115-megawatt hydropower plant on Saturday. This singular move has more than doubled the East African nation’s electricity generation capacity and creating a surplus that officials say could support power exports and growth.

The Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP), Tanzania’s biggest power plant, was built on the Rufiji River at a cost of about 7.45 trillion Tanzanian shillings ($2.84 billion).

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who inaugurated the plant, said it had helped eliminate a power generation shortfall that in the past has led to ?frequent and economically crippling blackouts.

‘We are confident that this project will increase opportunities for business, investment, and production, create jobs, and boost individual income and the national GDP as a whole,’ she said.

The project lifts the country’s total power generation capacity to 4,646 MW against peak demand of 2,271 MW, leaving a surplus of 2,375 MW for exports, Energy Minister Deogratius Ndejembi said.

He added that Tanzania was already in discussions to export electricity to several countries, including Kenya and Zambia.

Construction of ?plant began in 2019 but faced criticism from conservation groups, which argued that building a dam on a river running through the Selous Game Reserve could affect wildlife and habitats downstream.

The reserve is among the largest protected areas in Africa, home to one of ?its most significant concentrations of animals including elephant, black rhino and cheetah and a large variety of habitats, according to United Nations agency UNESCO.

Hassan acknowledged the project’s controversial history, but ?said Tanzania had overcome opposition during its development.

‘We had no way to abandon this project, given its importance to our nation,’ she said.

With the plant’s entry ?into operation, hydropower now accounts for around 60% of Tanzania’s power generation, with a significant portion also generated from natural gas.

Medical oxygen has long remained one of the less visible but most critical components of healthcare delivery. In emergency rooms, operating theatres, intensive care units and maternity wards, access to oxygen can mean the difference between life and death.

For Ebonyi State, however, the challenge is no longer simply about having oxygen plants. It is increasingly about ensuring that the facilities can function efficiently, remain sustainable and deliver oxygen to patients whenever it is needed.

This concern took centre stage in Abakaliki yesterday as stakeholders in the health sector gathered for the First Stakeholders’ Engagement and Co-Creation Workshop on the Medical Oxygen Economy, organised under the EQUI-RESP Africa Research Project.

Representing Governor Francis Nwifuru, Patricia Obila, deputy governor, challenged stakeholders to look beyond the installation of oxygen plants and focus on the human capacity required to operate and maintain them.

‘If you have something and you don’t have the technical know-how to manage it, it is as good as having nothing,’ she said.

Her statement captured one of the major challenges confronting Ebonyi’s emerging medical oxygen system: the need to match infrastructure with the technical expertise required to keep it functional.

The state government has already taken steps towards improving local oxygen production. Oxygen plants have been commissioned at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA), Onicha General Hospital and Mater Hospital.

For a state that previously had limited local oxygen production capacity, the facilities represent an important step towards reducing dependence on external sources and improving access to medical oxygen.

But infrastructure, stakeholders argued, is only one part of the solution.

Beyond installing oxygen plants

Obila reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to improving healthcare delivery and strengthening partnerships with development organisations.

She urged participants at the workshop to assess the functionality of existing oxygen facilities, identify infrastructure and human-capacity gaps and develop practical recommendations that could guide future government interventions.

The Deputy Governor said the government was prepared to support evidence-based recommendations that would improve the efficiency, sustainability and accessibility of medical oxygen services across the state.

Her position reflects a broader lesson from Nigeria’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when hospitals across the country struggled with shortages of medical oxygen and other critical healthcare resources.

The pandemic exposed the vulnerability of health systems that lacked adequate oxygen infrastructure, reliable supply chains and personnel capable of managing oxygen systems.

Years after the pandemic, the question for Ebonyi and other states is how to ensure that the lessons learnt are translated into lasting improvements.

The human capacity question

For Jesse Uneke, Professor and Nigerian and State Lead/Principal Investigator of the EQUI-RESP Africa Research Project and Vice Chancellor of David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS), medical oxygen deserves greater attention within Nigeria’s health system.

Uneke said the project was designed to bridge the gap between research, policy and practice while improving access to life-saving oxygen.

He noted that medical oxygen remains an under-emphasised component of healthcare delivery despite its critical importance, adding that challenges associated with access to and administration of oxygen contribute to more than 600,000 deaths annually in Nigeria.

According to him, the second phase of the EQUI-RESP project is focused on medical oxygen and the development of a stronger oxygen economy within healthcare facilities.

The concept of an oxygen economy goes beyond the production of oxygen. It encompasses the infrastructure, technical personnel, financing, maintenance systems, distribution networks, regulation and healthcare practices needed to ensure that oxygen reaches patients safely and consistently.

This means that a functional oxygen plant without trained technicians, reliable power, maintenance plans and an effective distribution system may not deliver the expected health benefits.

Building a Sustainable System

Robinson Onoh, the Chief Medical Director of AE-FUTHA, commended the Ebonyi State Government for supporting the establishment of oxygen production facilities.

Onoh noted that the state previously lacked such infrastructure and stressed that sustaining local oxygen production would be critical to building a more resilient healthcare system.

His position highlights another important issue: establishing an oxygen plant is only the beginning.

Medical oxygen facilities require regular maintenance, skilled personnel and reliable systems to ensure that production does not stop when equipment develops faults or when trained operators are unavailable.

For Ebonyi, developing a pool of technicians and healthcare workers with specialised knowledge of oxygen systems could therefore be as important as investing in the plants themselves.

From infrastructure to impact

The Abakaliki workshop brought together representatives of government, healthcare institutions, academia and development organisations to examine the challenges facing the medical oxygen sector.

The objective was not merely to identify problems but to co-create solutions that reflect the realities of Ebonyi’s healthcare system.

The collaboration involving DUFUHS, the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), UK, provides an opportunity to connect research and international expertise with local healthcare needs.

For Ebonyi, the immediate task is to translate that knowledge into practical interventions – from training technical personnel and improving maintenance systems to strengthening oxygen distribution and ensuring that health facilities can reliably access the commodity.

The state’s investment in oxygen plants has created the physical foundation. The next phase is to build the human and institutional capacity capable of sustaining them.

As the state expands healthcare infrastructure, the success of its medical oxygen programme may ultimately be measured not by the number of plants commissioned, but by how consistently those facilities produce and deliver oxygen to patients when it matters most.

That is the real test of sustainability ensuring that an investment in infrastructure becomes a dependable, life-saving service for the people of Ebonyi State.

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane has been named Germany’s 2026 Player of the Year after beating teammate Michael Olise to the prestigious award.

The England captain was recognised for a remarkable season in which he helped Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga and German Cup, while also reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Kane scored 61 goals in all competitions for Bayern last season before continuing his impressive form at international level.

The 33-year-old scored six goals as England reached the semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Argentina eliminated them.

Kane makes history

Kane becomes the first Englishman to win the award, which is voted for by 695 members of the Association of German Sports Journalists.

Players from the Bundesliga and German footballers playing abroad are eligible for the honour.

Olise finished second in the voting for the second consecutive year, having also been runner-up in 2025 behind former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was named Coach of the Year, while Bayern women’s captain Giulia Gwinn won the women’s award.

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl praised Kane’s impact following the announcement.

‘It’s almost impossible to find the right superlatives to describe Harry Kane – sometimes I’m at a loss for words,’ Eberl said.

‘He’s already been named England’s Footballer of the Year, and now he’s also won it in Germany.’

Kane’s latest individual honour further strengthens his credentials as one of the leading contenders for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, which will be presented in London in October.

Suspicion that oil activities have already resumed in Ogoni and that a company has already won the bid may be true after all. This has already attracted a strident appeal against such approach from right inside the ‘Dialogue Committee’.

The voice belongs to Pius Kii, a top catholic cleric and a monsignor, who is a longstanding campaigner for peace in Ogoni from the days of Father Hassan Kukah, and member of the ‘Ogoni Dialogue Committee’ that emerged after the high level meeting by top Ogoni leaders with the Presidency in Aso Rock two years ago.

Kii is a man highly trusted by the ordinary Ogoni people in the struggle and that seems to give him huge premium in Ogoni matters as recognized by the government and oil multinationals.

He has come out to say he not comfortable that oil activities seemed to have resumed whereas the basic issues were yet to be resolved.

He has thus addressed a ‘world press conference’ in Port Harcourt to share his concerns, though insisting he was not against the FG, the people, nor against oil resumption. His only concern, as he stated, was that if the fundamentals were not treated, Nigeria could repeat the same mistakes of the past. Ogoni issues led to killings and hanging of nine Ogoni activists led by Ken Saro Wiwa and eventually led to suspension of all oil activities in the area (OML-11).

Kii has come to insist that resumption of oil activities must not precede the resolution of the fundamental questions before Ogoni.

He said: I consider it necessary, at this critical juncture, to draw the attention of the Federal Government, the leadership of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC), the people of Ogoni and the Nigerian public to matters of urgent concern regarding the ongoing process for the resumption of oil activities in Ogoniland.

‘I do so not in opposition to the Federal Government’s initiative, not in opposition to the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, and certainly not in opposition to the leadership being provided to the process by the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.’

Kii said: ‘My concern has become even more urgent because negotiations are still underway while oil-related activities have already commenced in some parts of Ogoniland, and licenses have reportedly been issued to certain companies before the negotiating process has been concluded.

‘When I questioned this approach, I was told, in substance, that after the negotiations were concluded, the companies would subsequently be invited to negotiate equity participation with the Ogoni people.’

His concern, he said, is whether the dialogue is sufficiently transparent, and properly sequenced to produce an outcome that the Ogoni people can genuinely own.

He said from the outset, there has been a disturbing tendency to conduct matters of profound public consequence in a manner that appears deliberately ‘sub secreto’.

He said: ‘The issues under consideration do not belong to a few individuals sitting around a negotiating table. They concern the land, resources, rights, environment, political future and economic destiny of an entire people.

‘The people of Ogoni therefore have a legitimate right to know what is being negotiated in their name and the principles upon which decisions affecting their future are being reached.

I remain deeply unconvinced by that approach.

‘If equity participation, community ownership, host-community benefits and other fundamental protections are intended to form part of the final arrangement, they ought to be established before the principal decisions are taken and not after the fact.

‘There is a fundamental principle at stake here.

You cannot conclude a deal today and expect a law enacted tomorrow to retrospectively confer rights or obligations upon an agreement that has already been concluded.

Laws are generally prospective, not retroactive.’

‘The sequence matters.

If the Ogoni people are to have meaningful participation in the economic benefits arising from the return of oil activities, such participation must be negotiated and secured as part of the process itself.

‘Otherwise, there is a real danger that Ogoni will eventually be confronted with a fait accompli.’

In the past few days, anxiety has grown in Ogoni over allegations that oil equipment were sighted in the area and that oil resumption has begun. Now, a member of the committee and one that should know has come out publicly to say such fears and anxieties were real.

Kii thus said: ‘This is therefore an urgent appeal-not to stop the process, but to get it right. Ogoni deserves justice. Ogoni deserves transparency. Ogoni deserves a voice in decisions about its future. And Ogoni deserves an agreement that will stand the test of history.’

Silva Opuala-Charles, a foremost Professor of Economics and President of Garden City Premier Business School in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-South Nigeria, has been named Head for Africa Operations for the Chartered Institute of Management and Leadership, USA.

The appointment was conveyed in a letter signed by Israel Henry, Executive Director of the Institute which is based in Kentucky and Oklahoma, USA. The letter said the Nigerian professor is now head of their African operations.

Opuala-Charles is currently the President and Chairman, Governing Council of Garden City Premier Business School. He is a Faculty Member of both the American Trinity University, California, USA, and European Global School, University, Paris, France, as a Professor of Economics, Entrepreneurship, and Management.

Opuala-Charles has PhD in Economics specializing in Monetary Economics with a Master’s degree in Economics with a specialty in Money and Banking. In September 2016, Opuala-Charles was awarded the prestigious TRIUM Global Executive MBA with an MBA degree from the affiliate Universities of London School of Economics and Political Science, London; New York University, Stern Business School, New York; HEC Business School, Paris.

He is an alumnus of Lagos Business School a graduate of the Breakthrough Program for Senior Executives (BPSE) and an Alumnus of IMD Business School, Lausanne, Switzerland. He is an Alumnus of the London Business School, London; London School of Economics and Political Science, London; New York University, Stern School of Business, New York and HEC Management School, Paris.

The appointment from the Executive Board of the Chartered Institute of Management and Leadership (CIML) USA said the position was executive and reflects their supreme confidence in his leadership capabilities, strategic vision, and commitment to advancing executive education, professional membership, and management standards across the African continent.

The letter said the position is an executive strategic expansion and growth role with a primary strategic mandate including establishing, structuring, driving, and supervising CIML operations, regional secretariats, and national chapters across African countries. ‘This encompasses securing strategic partnerships, institutional accreditations, and corporate alliances across target nations’, the letter added.

By this, Opuala-Charles, a Monetary Economist, is authorized to represent CIML USA in official capacities across Africa, subject to maintaining the highest standards of professional ethics, global corporate integrity, and adherence to CIML USA constitution, bylaws, and operational policies.

The tenured appointment with renewal options mandates him to drive and implement strategic campaigns for substantial membership growth and expansion across all membership grades in African countries; Establish, structure, and supervise CIML national secretariats, regional operational centers, and country chapters across Africa; Promote and advocate for CIML professional development certifications, executive training modules, and leadership programs across target nations; and Build and maintain high-level strategic partnerships with corporate organizations, academic institutions, and public sector bodies across the continent.

The Bayelsa-born professor is equally mandated to plan, oversee, and coordinate regional leadership conferences, executive summits, workshops, and official member induction ceremonies; and ensure all regional operational units adhere to local legal, statutory, and regulatory frameworks across operating African countries.

The headquarters said they look forward to his strategic vision and leadership driving CIML’s growth and continental footprint in Africa.

Opuala-Charles is believed to be fit and prepared for the enormous tasks of the new challenge. He worked long in the banking industry rescuing sections and branches. He grew to the General Manager’s cadre before his appointment as the Honourable Commissioner of Finance/budget/Economy in 2007, where he played a leading role in public sector institution building. As a commissioner, he spearheaded a lot of reforms. His stint in government led to the establishment of the Bayelsa State Economic Management Team which he served as a vice-chairman with the Governor as Chairman.

He pioneered the domestication of the legislations in public procurement, fiscal responsibility, public private partnership, infrastructure concessioning, and microcredit management as well as landmark policies in recurrent and capital expenditure approval processes, scholarship policy, budget, and treasury operations policies.

The erudite academic is now busy growing the next generation of business and finance experts at the Garden City Premier Business School as President.

He has published several books and over 70 articles in renowned journals (scopus-indexed) both overseas and in Nigeria. He has also supervised over 100 Thesis and Capstone Projects for both Master’s Degree and PhD Students.

He is indeed regarded widely as one of the best brains from the Niger Delta of Nigeria and a gift from Africa.