₦airaland Forum

US Treasury Sanctions Six Individuals for Raising funds in the United Arab Emirates to Support Nigeria’s Boko Haram Terrorist Group

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a network of six individuals connected to Nigeria-based terrorist group, Boko Haram. All six were found guilty of establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise funds for and provide material assistance to Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria. OFAC’s action follows arrests, prosecutions, and designations in the UAE in September 2021, demonstrating the commitment of the Emirati government to using judicial measures and targeted financial sanctions to disrupt the flow of funds to these networks.

“With this action, the United States joins the UAE in targeting terrorist financing networks of mutual concern,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson. “Treasury continues to target financial facilitators of terrorist activity worldwide. We welcome multilateral action on this Boko Haram network to ensure that it is not able to move any further funds through the international financial system.”

OFAC designated Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, leaders, and officials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. The U.S. Department of State designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on November 14, 2013.

BOKO HARAM NETWORK IN THE UAE

The UAE Federal Court of Appeals in Abu Dhabi convicted Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad for transferring $782,000 from Dubai to Boko Haram in Nigeria. Salihu Yusuf Adamu and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad were sentenced to life imprisonment for violations of UAE anti-terrorism laws; Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, and Ibrahim Ali Alhassan were sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by deportation. Today’s designations will prevent these individuals’ funds from being used further to support terrorism.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the individuals named above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions with the individuals designated today entails risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. Pursuant to this authority, OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction on behalf of a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from its ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please here.

Additional information regarding sanctions programs administered by OFAC can be found here.

View identifying information on the individuals designated today.

💰 Richest Cities by GDP 💰

1. 🇺🇸 New York, USA – $2.3T
2. 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan – $2.1T
3. 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, USA – $1.29T
4. 🇫🇷 Paris, France – $1.27T
5. 🇬🇧 London, UK – $1.17T
6. 🇺🇸 Chicago, USA – $894.9B
7. 🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea – $878.5B
8. 🇧🇷 São Paulo, Brazil – $780.0B
9. 🇺🇸 San Francisco, USA – $778.9B
10. 🇺🇸 Dallas, USA – $744.7B
11. 🇺🇸 Washington DC, USA – $714.7B
12. 🇯🇵 Osaka–Kyoto–Kobe, Japan – $699.5B
13. 🇺🇸 Houston, USA – $697.0B
14. 🇨🇳 Shanghai, China – $663.9B
15. 🇩🇪 Rhine-Ruhr, Germany – $634.4B
16. 🇨🇳 Beijing, China – $618.6B
17. 🇺🇸 Boston, USA – $610.5B
18. 🇺🇸 Atlanta, USA – $570.7B
19. 🇺🇸 Seattle, USA – $566.7B
20. 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, USA – $557.6B

(FRED Economic Data)

Lukgaf:
It is hypocrisy to say that only Christians are affected by the insecurity in Nigeria. Let’s be objective, please!

Top 25 Countries by Lowest Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

1. 🇨🇺 Cuba – $35.63
2. 🇸🇾 Syria – $46.85
3. 🇳🇬 Nigeria – $123.24
4. 🇪🇬 Egypt – $147.06
5. 🇨🇲 Cameroon – $165.73
6. 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast – $178.23
7. 🇵🇰 Pakistan – $186.28
8. 🇺🇬 Uganda – $190.52
9. 🇬🇭 Ghana – $200.60
10. 🇪🇹 Ethiopia – $201.43
11. 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka – $210.74
12. 🇻🇪 Venezuela – $211.60
13. 🇳🇵 Nepal – $214.68
14. 🇹🇯 Tajikistan – $238.78
15. 🇧🇩 Bangladesh – $249.10
16. 🇮🇷 Iran – $255.84
17. 🇷🇼 Rwanda – $259.76
18. 🇳🇮 Nicaragua – $285.37
19. 🇮🇩 Indonesia – $288.27
20. 🇹🇿 Tanzania – $307.26
21. 🇱🇾 Libya – $314.76
22. 🇩🇿 Algeria – $317.93
23. 🇹🇳 Tunisia – $332.55
24. 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe – $348.13
25. 🇰🇪 Kenya – $356.06

Top 40 Cities with the Worst Quality of Life 👎

1. 🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria
2. 🇮🇷 Tehran, Iran
3. 🇵🇭 Manila, Philippines
4. 🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh
5. 🇱🇰 Colombo, Sri Lanka
6. 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
7. 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
8. 🇱🇧 Beirut, Lebanon
9. 🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt
10. 🇳🇵 Kathmandu, Nepal
11. 🇧🇷 São Paulo, Brazil
12. 🇵🇪 Lima, Peru
13. 🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan
14. 🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia
15. 🇹🇭 Bangkok, Thailand
16. 🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico
17. 🇨🇴 Bogotá, Colombia
18. 🇮🇳 Mumbai, India
19. 🇷🇺 Novosibirsk, Russia
20. 🇰🇿 Almaty, Kazakhstan
21. 🇦🇱 Tirana, Albania
22. 🇷🇺 Yekaterinburg, Russia
23. 🇰🇪 Nairobi, Kenya
24. 🇵🇰 Lahore, Pakistan
25. 🇻🇳 Hanoi, Vietnam
26. 🇨🇱 Santiago, Chile
27. 🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine
28. 🇦🇷 Buenos Aires, Argentina
29. 🇮🇳 Kolkata, India
30. 🇲🇰 Skopje, North Macedonia
31. 🇺🇦 Odesa, Ukraine
32. 🇹🇷 Istanbul, Turkey
33. 🇦🇿 Baku, Azerbaijan
34. 🇧🇷 Belo Horizonte, Brazil
35. 🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia
36. 🇨🇳 Shanghai, China
37. 🇬🇷 Thessaloniki, Greece
38. 🇷🇺 Saint Petersburg, Russia
39. 🇮🇳 Delhi, India
40. 🇪🇨 Quito, Ecuador

📌 These Cities Rank low due to High Pollution, Poor Healthcare, Low Safety, Long Commutes, Weak Purchasing Power, High Living Costs, Unaffordable Housing, and Harsh Climates.

helinues:
Forward ever, backward never

A judge has resigned after she was caught peeing in a bush near a courthouse by police.

Bodycam footage obtained by Fox 10 shows Judge Pro Tempore Kristyne Schaaf-Olson allegedly urinating in the street in Yavaoi County, Arizona at around 1.30am on 4 October.

An officer can be seen approaching her and asking what she is doing, to which she replied: “I’m waiting… Uber.”

Her husband appeared and tried to usher her away, insisting that “it wasn’t her” after the officer accused her of “puking and urinating, exposing herself to several people”.

The police report said Schaaf-Olson showed signs of intoxication and slurred her speech. Her husband was cited for resisting arrest, interfering with a crime scene investigation and obstruction of government operations.

Top 25 Countries with the Lowest Quality of Life in 2025

1. 🇳🇬 Nigeria
2. 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
3. 🇻🇪 Venezuela
4. 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
5. 🇪🇬 Egypt
6. 🇮🇷 Iran
7. 🇵🇪 Peru
8. 🇻🇳 Vietnam
9. 🇵🇭 Philippines
10. 🇱🇧 Lebanon
11. 🇰🇪 Kenya
12. 🇮🇩 Indonesia
13. 🇵🇰 Pakistan
14. 🇦🇱 Albania
15. 🇹🇭 Thailand
16. 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
17. 🇨🇱 Chile
18. 🇨🇴 Colombia
19. 🇲🇦 Morocco
20. 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
21. 🇺🇦 Ukraine
22. 🇷🇺 Russia
23. 🇹🇳 Tunisia
24. 🇧🇷 Brazil
25. 🇦🇷 Argentina

📌 Quality of Life Index reflects overall well-being using key factors like Safety, Health Care, Cost of Living, Climate, and More.

Source: Numbeo

Omotaday:
The war didn’t start on Oct 7th, and even in wars, there are rules, that’s why you have “war crimes”. Get educated first and don’t mention me anymore.

Omotaday:
It’s no surprise for anyone who sees beyond mere propaganda. Israel always capitalise on any diversion to tone down their own atrocities in Palestine.

It’s the same way they are the loudest with the “Christain genocide in Nigeria” hasbara, they have been paying the media, and their AIPAC funded senators are pushing the story.

Hassanmaye:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Bnki2qq8F/

motayoayinde:
The UAE and Israel are behind the terrorism taking place in Sudan right now.

They're the hackers of the murderous RSF.

Note that Israel is the devil's own kingdom from where nothing good ever comes.

The House of Representatives has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow $2.35 billion to help finance part of the 2025 budget deficit.

In addition, the green chamber on Wednesday endorsed the President’s proposal to issue a $500 million debut sovereign sukuk in the international capital market (ICM) to support key infrastructure projects and diversify Nigeria’s financing sources.

The approvals followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the House Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debt Management, which reviewed the borrowing plan and recommended its implementation.

According to the report, the new external borrowing of N1,843,669,786,987.16 (equivalent to $1.229 billion) at the budget exchange rate of N1,500 to $1, as provided for in the 2025 Appropriation Act, will be used to part-finance the N9.28 trillion budget deficit.

Back story

Earlier this month, Nairametrics had reported that Tinubu requested the House of Representatives to approve the Federal Government’s plan to raise $2.3 billion in external capital for the 2025 fiscal year.

In a letter addressed to the House and read on the floor by Speaker Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, President Tinubu explained that the funds would be raised through a combination of instruments, including the issuance of Eurobonds, bridge financing facilities from book runners, loan syndications, and direct borrowing from international financial institutions.

“The Federal Government has recorded considerable success in the issuance of Sukuk in the domestic capital market for the development of critical infrastructural projects across the country,” the president stated.

What you should know

In July, the Senate approved the 2025-2026 external borrowing plan of $21.5 billion presented by President Tinubu for consideration.

The Senate also approved the issuance of a Federal Government Bond of N757 billion for the payment of accrued rights pension arrears as of December 2023 for the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of N27.72 trillion or 22.8% when compared to the N121.67 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.

Earlier, Nairametrics reported that Nigeria is in discussions with China’s Export-Import Bank for a $2 billion loan to finance a new “super grid” aimed at easing the country’s chronic power shortages and boosting industrial growth.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) successfully raised N1.39 trillion through the issuance of Sukuk bonds in the domestic capital market, which have been channelled toward the construction and rehabilitation of major roads and bridges nationwide.

Racoon:
Seem this fellas thinks the US cares about your social or governmental status. Do anyhow you go collect wotoporously

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has expressed shock after the United States revoked his visa, making it impossible for him to travel to the country for now.

Soyinka disclosed this on Tuesday during a media parley held at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos Island.

He explained that the revocation came as a surprise since he was unaware of any wrongdoing that could have warranted such action.

“It is necessary for me to hold this conference so that people in the United States who are expecting me for this event or that event do not waste their time,” he said.

“I have no visa; I am banned, obviously, from the United States. And if you want to see me, you know where to find me,” he added.

According to the renowned writer, the US Consulate in Lagos informed him of the revocation in a letter dated October 23, 2025.

The letter, issued by the Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) Section of the Consulate, stated: “This letter serves as official notification by the United States Consulate General in Lagos that the nonimmigrant visa listed below has been revoked pursuant to the authority contained in U.S. Department of State regulations.”

Soyinka, however, said he was still trying to understand the reason behind the decision, noting that he has no criminal record or history of misconduct in the US or anywhere else.

“I’m still looking into my past history. I don’t have any past criminal record or even a felony or misdemeanour to qualify for the revocation,” he said.

“I’ve started looking back have I ever misbehaved toward the United States of America? Do I have a history? Have I been convicted? Have I gone against the law anywhere?” he added, expressing confusion over the move.

Nigerian seaports are currently missing from the 2025 global Top 100 ranking, with only four African ports making it into Lloyd’s List.

According to a recent ranking released by Lloyd’s Register, Port of Tanger Med, Morocco, Egypt follows with Port Said and Alexandria and Togo’s Lomé Port.

The reports stated that Morocco’s Tanger Med remains the continent’s strongest performer, ranking 17th globally after handling over 10.2 million TEUs in 2024 – an 18.9 per cent surge that reinforces its role as a major transhipment gateway.

Egypt followed with Port Said at 53rd position, although its 3.9 million TEUs represented a slight decline due to disruptions in the Red Sea. Alexandria showed stronger momentum, climbing to 2.2 million TEUs and posting one of the region’s fastest throughput gains.

Togo’s Lomé Port completes Africa’s presence, ranking 92nd with more than 2 million TEUs, maintaining its growing influence in West Africa’s shipping corridors.

Maritime experts have attributed Nigeria’s absence to infrastructure and logistical constraints.

They further argued that enhanced investment in infrastructure, automation, and connectivity is essential for Africa to boost maritime trade competitiveness.

African ports face infrastructure and logistical limitations, contributing to lagging global container handling capacity. This reveals the continent’s ongoing struggle to expand its maritime capacity despite rising trade volumes.

The findings highlight the continent’s ongoing infrastructure and logistical constraints despite notable improvements in select terminals.

Lloyd’s List’s latest assessment shows that global container traffic is rebounding strongly. Worldwide throughput reached 743.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2024, an 8.1 per cent increase from a year earlier, signalling recovery from several years of suppressed volumes driven by pandemic-era disruptions and geopolitical tensions.

Asia continues to dominate global trade flows, with Chinese ports responsible for over 40 per cent of total container throughput.

North America and Europe also gained momentum, supported by shifting supply chains, stronger consumer spending and strategic inventory replenishment.

The continent’s shipping performance continues to suffer severe global and regional disruptions.

Lloyd’s List’s latest assessment shows that global container traffic is rebounding strongly, with worldwide throughput hitting 743.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2024

The ongoing security crisis in the Red Sea has rerouted major shipping lines away from key African gateways, causing delays, higher insurance costs, and reduced vessel calls to Eastern and Northern African ports.

Meanwhile, major Western carriers have scaled back operations on some West African routes due to lower freight demand and capacity constraints.

At a structural level, limited port automation, capacity bottlenecks, slow cargo clearance processes and a lack of rail connectivity continue to dampen competitiveness. Many African economies remain heavily import-dependent, offering less incentive for large-scale transhipment investments.

However, speaking on the development, a maritime analyst, Emmanuel Onyema, said ageing berths, limited container yards, inadequate dredging and terminal space create queues and long dwell times that deter carriers.

Onyema also identifies that poor hinterland connectivity, fueled by weak or unreliable road/rail links to industrial and consumption centres, forces cargo to sit in port longer or be trucked inefficiently, thereby increasing time-in-port a
nd transport costs.

“The Lekki Deep Sea Port example underscores that a new port alone won’t work without rail/road links. Also, fragmented documentation and manual processes create delays; where single-window automation is missing or partial, turnaround is slower.

Conversely, where automation has been implemented it has cut processing time dramatically,” Onyema stated.

Also speaking, Chinedu Ogbonna, said even though West Africa is a large trade market, port inefficiencies make Nigerian ports relatively unattractive to shippers and investors.

“Infrastructure creates capacity, automation converts capacity to reliable performance, and connectivity ensures goods flow to and from the ports efficiently.

Without all three, new docks or cranes alone will not restore Nigeria’s competitiveness or stop “absence” from regional maritime value chains.

“Also, those absences don’t come from lack of demand; West Africa is a large trade market, but they come from inefficiencies that make Nigerian ports relatively unattractive to shippers and investors, Ogbonna stated.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has launched Grokipedia, a new online encyclopedia designed to compete with Wikipedia, which the billionaire has long accused of political bias.

The site, branded version 0.1, went live on Monday with more than 885,000 articles — far fewer than Wikipedia’s seven million English-language entries, but already drawing global attention. Musk promised an upgraded version 1.0 would be “10X better,” declaring that Grokipedia already surpasses its established rival.

“The goal of Grok and Grokipedia.com is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” Musk wrote on X, pledging to avoid ideological slant.

Originally set for release in September, Grokipedia was delayed to “purge out the propaganda,” according to Musk. The entrepreneur, who has often criticised Wikipedia for being “controlled by far-left activists,” insists his platform will prioritise factual accuracy powered by AI and the generative assistant Grok.

A Grokipedia entry about Musk describes him as influencing debates on “technological progress, demographic decline, and institutional biases,” while noting “systemic left-leaning tilts” in media coverage.

By contrast, Wikipedia founded in 2001 and maintained by volunteers, maintains a “neutral point of view” and relies largely on donations to remain free.

Wikipedia traffic dips amid AI rise

In a related development, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) reported an 8% decline in human pageviews on Wikipedia compared to last year. The organisation linked the drop to generative AI tools and evolving search habits that deliver information directly to users without visiting source pages.

Marshall Miller, WMF’s Senior Director of Product, said the change reflects how AI is reshaping online information discovery, noting that many search results now quote Wikipedia content without crediting or directing traffic back to the site.

The decline also followed updates to WMF’s bot detection system, which reclassified certain visits previously mistaken for human traffic.

Goodlady:
I dey here. Comment with sense or you receive sense.

First woman in France sentenced to life without parole for rape and murder of a schoolgirl

Dahbia Benkired has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for raping, torturing, and killing 12-year-old Lola Daviet in 2022, the first time such a sentence has ever been handed down to a woman in France.

A Paris court handed down the maximum sentence to 27-year-old Dahbia Benkired on Friday, following her conviction for the rape, torture, and murder of Lola Daviet, whose body was found in a plastic trunk outside her home in northeastern Paris.

Lola's mother and brother embraced and broke down in tears as the verdict was read. Lola's father died in 2024 following his daughter's death.

Throughout the trial, Dahbia Benkired remained largely emotionless and showed no reaction during the reading of the verdict.

The crime horrified France and sparked political debate after it emerged that Benkired, born in Algeria, was undocumented and had been ordered to leave the country two months before the murder.

A case that shocked France

Lola's body was found stuffed inside a plastic trunk on a Paris street near her home.

The 12-year-old had returned from school on 14 October 2022 to the building in the northeast of the French capital where her parents worked as door attendants.

Surveillance footage showed Benkired, who was homeless and unemployed but staying at her sister's apartment in the same building, meeting the child shortly after 3 pm.

When Lola failed to return home, her parents raised the alarm. An hour and a half later, Benkired was seen on camera again in the building’s entrance hall, surrounded by suitcases, including the large trunk where the girl's body would later be found.

Benkrired was arrested shortly afterwards and, following multiple psychiatric evaluations, deemed fit to stand trial. She has been held at Fresnes prison, south of Paris, for the past three years.

"I'm indifferent"

At the Paris court on Friday, after an hour-long closing statement, the attorney general requested an irreducible life sentence. Only a handful of such sentences have been handed down since it was introduced in 1994.

The punishment, sometimes referred to as "real life imprisonment," means there is no possibility of early release or a reduction in the length of the sentence.

However, French law allows a review after 30 years, upon request by the convicted person. A special panel of five judges from the Court of Cassation, the country's highest court, may authorise release, but only if it poses no serious threat to public order and after consulting victims' families.

A troubled background and chilling detachment

Experts told the court on Thursday that Benkired is criminally responsible for her actions.

They found no sign of mental illness or impaired judgement, describing her as of "normal intelligence" and free of any "psychiatric pathology."

One psychiatric report described her as "cold, passive-aggressive, with contradictory and fantastical speech," exhibiting "pathological narcissism," antisocial behaviour and "a very high risk of reoffending."

A second evaluation found "no depressive, anxious or post-traumatic symptoms" and noted her "very low empathy."

Her emotional detachment has been noted since her arrest. "At no moment did she show any sign of regret, to the point that it made me doubt her guilt despite all the evidence pointing to her. The facts were so horrific that I expected her to break down," a police officer testified.

When shown photos of the tortured victim, Benkired said: "I feel indifferent."

The court also examined Benkired’s past: a childhood marked by violence in Algeria, alleged sexual abuse and early cannabis use after arriving in France at 16.

Unable to find social or professional stability, she claimed that she drifted into sex work.

In her final words to the court before the jury retired to deliberate, Benkired said: "I ask for forgiveness, it's horrible what I did, and that’s all I have to say."

During the hearing, Benkired sat in the dock with a blank stare, never showing emotion.

Members of Lola's family wore matching T-shirts bearing a drawing of the young girl and the words "You will be the sun of our lives and the star of our nights."

Peter Obi, former governor and presidential candidate, has called on the Federal Government to diversify port development beyond Lagos, following the approval of $1 billion (approx. N1.5 trillion) for the modernisation of the Apapa and TinCan Island Ports.

Obi made the call via a statement on his official X account on Friday, stressing the need for equitable infrastructure investment across Nigeria’s maritime sector.

While acknowledging that modernising Lagos ports is commendable, Obi warned that the country’s heavy concentration of port activities in Lagos creates chronic congestion, high demurrage costs, and environmental pressures that undermine trade efficiency.

He argued that other strategic ports, including Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Onne, remain underdeveloped, despite their potential to stimulate regional economies, create jobs, and reduce pressure on Lagos.

“I have noted the Federal Government’s recent approval of $1 billion (N1.5 trillion) for the modernisation of the Apapa and TinCan Island Ports in Lagos. While any effort to improve efficiency and embrace technology in our maritime sector is commendable, such an initiative must be guided by accountability, transparency, and equity for all Nigerians. However, this development once again exposes a longstanding concentration of our port development only in Lagos

“Nigeria’s infrastructure investment remains excessively concentrated in Lagos, often at the expense of other strategic ports such as Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Onne. If fully developed, these ports could enhance productivity, drive trade, create jobs, and open new economic corridors that would lift millions out of poverty across the federation,” the statement read in part.

More insights

Obi highlighted global examples of decentralised port systems, citing Vietnam’s 300 ports, Indonesia’s 111 commercial ports, and South Africa’s eight major seaports, noting that these countries benefit from nationwide connectivity, improved logistics, and balanced economic growth. Even Ghana, with only two major ports, ensures they are geographically spread to maximise efficiency.

He further stressed that beyond physical infrastructure, reforms must tackle corruption, reduce bureaucracy, and embrace technology to create a seamless, paperless port system that improves turnaround times and global competitiveness.
Obi emphasized that if prudently managed, the Lagos modernisation could serve as a model for broader maritime transformation across the nation.
He also called for fairness and equity in Nigeria’s infrastructure planning, arguing that a truly national blue economy must involve every region and shift the country from one driven by consumption to one focused on production and shared prosperity.

What you should know

The Apapa and TinCan Island ports, two of Nigeria’s busiest seaports, recently received Federal Government approval of $1 billion for modernisation.

According to Marine and Blue Economy Minister Adegboyega Oyetola, the upgrades aimed to improve cargo handling, expand capacity to meet global standards, and introduce a paperless, technology-driven port system to enhance efficiency, reduce turnaround time, and curb corruption.

He added that the government had begun the procurement process for similar modernisation projects at ports outside Lagos, highlighting that the Lagos upgrades formed part of the ministry’s 10-year marine and blue economy strategy.

Earlier, in April 2024, the Nigerian Ports Authority announced it was set to receive a $700 million loan from Citibank, funded by UK Export Finance, to revamp the Apapa and TinCan Island ports. NPA Managing Director Mohammed Bello-Koko shared on his official X account that he had signed the Mandate Letter and Term Sheet for the loan.

The funds were intended to rehabilitate the quay wall for landside operations, improve other infrastructure, and deepen the draft to 16.5 meters to accommodate larger vessels. Implementation was to follow approvals from the Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, the Minister of Finance, and the Debt Management Office.
However, it has not been explicitly stated whether the recent $1 billion federal approval for Apapa and TinCan Island port modernisation is connected to this earlier $700 million loan.