₦airaland Forum

FC Haka’s historic stadium was set on fire after the team’s relegation to the second division, with police confirming the blaze was deliberately started by three supporters

Football in Finland is reeling after nearly a century of history at Tehtaan Kenttä was desecrated when the stadium went up in flames on Sunday night in Valkeakoski.

One of the most iconic venues in Finnish football, built in 1934 and home to historic club FC Haka, the stadium suffered extensive damage, with large sections completely destroyed and part of the artificial turf also affected, just months after the club’s relegation to the country’s second division.

Police confirmed that the fire was deliberately started by three minors who were present at the scene, with one of them admitting to setting fire to an object that sparked the blaze.

“We did not need this, that is clear. We have received a great deal of support and we will continue to need it,” said Haka FC president Marko Laaksonen, visibly distraught, particularly given the club’s already fragile sporting situation.

Source: https://www.mundodeportivo.com/us/en/20251212/736254/shocking-scenes-fc-haka-fans-set-their-stadium-on-fire-after-relegation.html

4. Founder, MicCom Cables and Wires Limited – Prince Michael Ponle

MicCom Cables and Wires Limited was founded by Prince Michael Ayantunde Ponle, also known as Prince Tunde Ponle, a Nigerian engineer, entrepreneur, and industrialist. Ponle overcame early financial hardship and limited formal education to build one of Nigeria’s pioneering cable manufacturing companies.

Ponle began his career in education, attending The Polytechnic, Ibadan in 1962 to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering, before transferring to the Posts & Telecoms Training School in Oshodi, Lagos, where he acquired practical skills in telecommunications and electronics.

He briefly worked at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ibadan branch and taught at Ife Girls’ High School. In 1974, Ponle began contracting work in electrical and engineering projects, and by 1978, he formally established MicCom Cables and Wires Limited, entering manufacturing with a focus on house wiring, power cables, and conductors.

MicCom has grown into a leading player in sub-Saharan Africa, producing a wide range of electrical products that serve residential, industrial, and utility infrastructure projects. The range of products MicCom offers is broad are from PVC‑insulated house wiring and consumer cables, to power cables (armoured and non‑armoured), aluminium and copper conductors fulfilling needs across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility‑scale installations.

In terms of quality assurance and standards compliance, MicCom has long held the ISO 9001 certification. In 2024, it became the first cable manufacturer in Nigeria to secure a triple ISO accreditation, ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management), ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management), and ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health & Safety).

Beyond manufacturing, Prince Ponle also founded the MicCom Golf Hotel & Resort in Ada, Osun State, amongst multiple foundations

3. Purechem Cable & Wires – Enpee Group (Founded in Nigeria by Mr. N. P. Kirpalani)

Purechem Cable & Wires Limited is a subsidiary of the Enpee Group, an international manufacturing conglomerate founded in Nigeria in 1961 by Mr. N. P. Kirpalani. The Group began as a small trading business and expanded steadily into textiles, metal packaging, chemicals, FMCG, construction materials, and cable production.

Purechem Cable & Wires itself commenced commercial operations in 2011, positioning the company as one of Nigeria’s dedicated producers of low-voltage copper and aluminium cables. The company manufactures a wide range of electrical wires designed for building projects, industrial applications, and bespoke power solutions requested by clients.

The Enpee Group brings more than five decades of manufacturing experience across Nigeria, India, and the UAE. Its portfolio includes leading brands such as Avon Crowncaps, Fine Chemicals, PrimePak Industries, Pure Hygiene, and Renewsys in India’s solar industry. Purechem Cable & Wires benefits from this long technical heritage and the Group’s strong presence in Nigeria’s industrial sector.

Purechem Cable & Wires started operations at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sango-Otta, Ogun State, near Lagos. From inception, the company focused on producing high-quality low-voltage electrical cables that meet both domestic and international standards. Over the years, it has grown to become a trusted supplier for contractors, builders, distributors, and industrial consumers across Nigeria.

The company’s main factory is located in Sango-Otta, equipped with advanced machinery for copper and aluminium cable production. The plant supports high-precision manufacturing and allows Purechem to maintain consistency in conductor quality, insulation, and finishing. This facility also enables customized orders for clients who require specific cable specifications.

Purechem Cable & Wires is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, reflecting its commitment to quality management systems. It adheres to strict standards across health and safety, labour practices, environment, business ethics, and statutory compliance.

2. John Zobis Group – Founder & CEO, John Ezeobi

John Ezeobi is the founder and chief executive of John Zobis Group. He began his journey as a young importer of electrical cables and later registered the company as a small trading outfit. He started the company from the little savings of N1,350 he had while in school.

Over time, his vision and resilience transformed that modest beginning into one of Nigeria’s standout indigenous industrial successes. Zobis evolved from trading into manufacturing. The group formally became known as John Zobis Group, and its manufacturing arm, Zobis Cable, began production in 2018 with a state-of-the-art facility based in Onitsha, Anambra State.

Since then, Zobis Cable has grown to produce premium electrical wiring and cables that meet international standards serving sectors such as construction, energy, manufacturing and beyond.

Apart from cable manufacturing, John Zobis Group now spans multiple sectors through its subsidiaries including engineering, electrical contracting, oil and gas services, and real estate/construction projects. Under the group are entities such as Zobis Cable, John Zobis Engineering, Zobis Electrical Nigeria Ltd. and John Zobis Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd.

In 2025, he was honored by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) with their “Pillar of Industrial Enterprise and National Impact” award, in recognition of his commitment to local sourcing, backward integration and strengthening Nigeria’s industrial capacity.

The company has achieved compliance with international standards such as BS 5467, establishing its reputation for quality, durability, and reliability.

1. Geoelis Cables Limited- Founders, Chief Sir Geoffrey C. O. Ezebube and Dim Elias E. Nwosu

Geoelis Cables Limited is one of Nigeria’s longstanding indigenous manufacturers of electrical wires and cables. The company was incorporated in 1978 under Geoelis Trading Company, the holding entity that also oversees Geoelis and Company Nigeria Limited and Star Gas Limited.

The group was founded by the late Chief Sir Geoffrey C. O. Ezebube and Dim Elias E. Nwosu, two pioneering businessmen who recognized the gap created when the Federal Government restricted cable imports to encourage local production. They hold 50% equity respectively.

The company opened its cable factory in 1978 and began full production in March 1981 at its facility located along the Nkpor–Umuoji Road in Nkpor, Anambra State. While its early operations relied on Chinese expatriates who managed technical and production units, these departments are now fully staffed and led by qualified Nigerian professionals.

Over the past four decades, Geoelis has earned a reputation for producing a wide range of cables across various sizes and specifications. Its product line covers domestic house-wiring cables, flexible automotive cables, aluminium service cables, bare conductors, industrial power cables and overhead line conductors used in national grid systems. These products serve a wide base of customers across domestic, industrial, automotive, telecommunication and national electrification projects.

Geoelis Cables has supplied wires and cables for rural and urban electrification projects at local, state and federal levels and continues to serve both the Nigerian and West African markets.

Its production standards conform to Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) and specifications recommended by the Cable Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CAMAN). The company is a SON Gold Award winner for all product categories and maintains membership in MAN, CAMAN and the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce.

Note: While there are other notable wire and cable companies in Nigeria as confirmed from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the founders of some of them could not be ascertained at the time of filing this article. The list is open to updates.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2025/12/10/meet-the-business-leaders-driving-nigerias-fast-growing-wires-and-cables-industry/#split_content

Meet the business leaders driving Nigeria’s fast-growing wires and cables industry

Meet the business leaders driving Nigeria’s fast-growing wires and cables industry

For years, Nigeria’s wires and cables market was dominated by imports, brands that were cheap but often ill-equipped to survive the country’s heat, voltage fluctuations, and relentless load-shedding.

Every flicker of a light or sparking socket told a story of cables that couldn’t keep up.

Fast forward to today, and a different story is unfolding.

Indigenous manufacturers are no longer on the sidelines; they are at the heart of powering homes, offices, factories, and telecom networks across the country. From low-voltage wiring in apartments to medium-voltage lines energizing industrial clusters.

Their rise is more than a business success; it is a testament to resilience and innovation. Competing against imports, these entrepreneurs are producing ISO-certified, high-quality cables that meet international standards. They are supporting construction, real estate, and industrial growth while helping stabilize a grid that still struggles to keep up with rising energy demands.

Nigerian wires and cables market is projected to grow at a 5.2% annual rate between 2025 and 2031, reflecting rising demand across residential, industrial, and utility sectors.

As Nigeria’s population grows, so does the need for housing, infrastructure, and industrial power networks, making the role of these local manufacturers even more central to the country’s future.

This list focuses on Nigerian electricity wire and cable manufacturers whose founders are publicly documented. Many players in the sector operate with limited visibility, making it difficult to trace ownership or leadership history

Here are the entrepreneurs driving Nigeria’s wires and cables industry.

7. Founder, Coleman Wires and Cables- Asiwaju Solomon Onafowokan

Coleman Technical Industries Limited, commonly known as Coleman Wires and Cables, was founded by Asiwaju Solomon Kayode Onafowokan, a Nigerian industrialist and entrepreneur. It is one of the country’s leading indigenous electricity wire and cable manufacturers.

Onafowokan is a seasoned administrator with over 50 years of corporate management experience. A former Deputy Chief Executive at Chellarams Plc, he currently chairs the Board of Coleman Technical Industries Limited. He is the immediate past President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and serves on the Boards of NACCIMA, NECA, and MAN.

He incorporated the company on 1 July 1975, initially starting with trading operations before moving into manufacturing. Full-scale production of wires and cables began in 1996, with the first factory in Ikotun, Lagos.

The principal headquarters is located in Lagos. Over time, the company expanded its manufacturing footprint to major manufacturing plants Arepo and Sagamu in Ogun State. The Sagamu complex, which sits on more than 350,000 square metres, also houses a smelting section with capacity for 3,000 tons of aluminium and 10,000 tons of copper per month. The new facility, said to be the largest of its kind in Africa, is designed to produce up to 9 million kilometres of fibre-optic cable annually

Coleman produces a wide range of electrical products, including residential wiring, medium- and high-voltage cables, communication lines, and fibre-optic cables. Its products serve sectors including construction, real estate, industrial power networks, and telecoms.

Coleman is ISO and SON/NIS certified, and it has grown into one of West Africa’s largest cable manufacturers. The company is known for producing high-quality cables that adhere to international standards, offering a locally made alternative to imported wires and supporting Nigeria’s power and infrastructure development.

6. Founder, Cutix Plc – Engr. Dr. Obiajulu Uzodike

Cutix Plc was founded by Engr. Gilbert Obiajulu Uzodike, a Nigerian engineer and entrepreneur. He conceived the idea for Cutix around 1981, after leaving a role at Raychem Corporation, an American military wire and accessories company. The company is one of the country’s leading indigenous electricity wire and cable manufacturers.

Dr. Uzodike studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Lagos, graduating in 1974, and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1977.

The company was formally incorporated on November 4, 1982, initially as a private limited company under the cable division of his venture firm. In mid‑1983, Uzodike and 18 associates pooled a start‑up capital of N400,000, enabling the venture’s first wave of commercial production.

Cutix moved to the public capital market and was listed on the national stock exchange on August 12, 1987, becoming the first private manufacturing company east of the Niger to be quoted.

From those early days, Cutix began building a track record. Its first extrusion line went into production in 1984, followed by a second line in 1985. By 1986, the company had expanded with multiple wire‑processing lines to match standards of leading cable manufacturers globally.

Over the years, Cutix expanded its production capabilities. In 1992, it became the first cable maker in Nigeria to acquire a plastic compounding line, a key step in backward integration.

The principal headquarters is located in Nnewi, Anambra State, with major manufacturing plants in Nnewi and Aba. These facilities house multiple wire-processing and extrusion lines producing PVC‑insulated house‑wiring cables, industrial power cables (armoured and non‑armoured), aluminium conductors, bare-copper conductors, automotive cables, solar‑ready cables, and more, serving residential, industrial, automotive and telecom sectors across Nigeria.

5. Cometstar Manufacturing Company Limited – Chief Sir James Uduji

Sir James Uzochukwu Uduji is the founder of Cometstar Manufacturing Company. The origins trace back to 1983 when he established Cometstar Elektrindo Limited, initially a company trading in and distributing a broad range of electrical products, including cables, switch‑gear, and transmission materials for about 22 years.

In 2004, just after the CEO attended the ISO convention in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he conceptualized the diversification into the manufacturing of wires and cables, leading to the incorporation of Cometstar Manufacturing Company Limited on 25 February 2005 under Nigeria’s Company & Allied Matters Act. Production under the brand Cometstar Wire & Cable began in 2006.

The corporate head office is located at 226 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The main cable manufacturing plant is situated in Agbara Industrial Estate, Ogun State where the company runs its factory operations.

From this facility, Cometstar produces a wide variety of electrical cables and accessories from PVC‑insulated house wiring and flexible cables to armoured and non‑armoured main cables (copper and aluminium), auxiliary control cables, bare conductors for overhead lines, and other installation accessories.

Cometstar asserts that its products conform to the Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS), British Standards (BS), and international norms set by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

The company emphasises stringent quality control at every stage of production and positions itself as one of Nigeria’s leading privately owned cable manufacturers. Through Cometstar Wire & Cable, the company supplies wiring and power‑distribution solutions for homes, offices, factories, industrial plants, and utility substations. Its product range covers low, medium and high-voltage cables suited for overhead, underground, and surface installations

Cometstar also diversified over time, beyond cables; it now spans industrial gases and mineral processing under the umbrella of the broader Cometstar Group.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2025/12/10/meet-the-business-leaders-driving-nigerias-fast-growing-wires-and-cables-industry/#split_content

Roads are the lifelines of Africa’s economies, connecting people, goods, and services across vast distances. They move produce from farms to markets, workers to factories, students to schools, and patients to hospitals.

An estimated 80% of goods and 90% of passenger traffic in Africa rely on roads, making them indispensable for daily life and economic growth. Yet, despite their importance, many road networks across the continent remain underdeveloped or poorly maintained.

Several African countries, however, stand out for the sheer size and coverage of their road systems. These networks not only support domestic trade and mobility but also play a crucial role in regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Here are the ten African countries with the longest road networks, as cited by Business Insider Africa:

1. South Africa – 750,000 km

South Africa leads the continent with an extensive and highly developed road network, reflecting its industrialised economy and strong transport infrastructure.

2. Nigeria – 195,000 km

Nigeria’s vast population and economic activity are supported by its sprawling road system, which links major cities, ports, and rural areas across the country.

3. Ethiopia – 161,452 km

Ethiopia has been expanding its road network to improve connectivity between urban centres and remote regions, supporting both trade and rural development.

4. Kenya – 161,000 km

Kenya’s growing road infrastructure underpins its position as East Africa’s economic hub, facilitating trade and regional transport.

5. Democratic Republic of the Congo – 152,000 km

Despite challenging terrain, the DRC maintains a large road network critical for connecting mineral-rich regions with key markets.

6. Tanzania – 145,000 km

Tanzania’s roads link major urban areas with ports and agricultural zones, aiding commerce and internal mobility.

7. Algeria – 141,000 km

Algeria’s extensive road system connects its vast desert regions to northern cities and coastal trade hubs.

8. Mali – 139,000 km

Mali’s roads are vital for trade and access to essential services, especially in linking rural communities to regional centres.

9. Zimbabwe – 97,000 km

Zimbabwe maintains a road network that supports its agricultural and mining sectors, connecting urban and rural areas efficiently.

10. South Sudan – 90,000 km

As one of Africa’s newer nations, South Sudan has been developing its road network to improve access to markets and services, despite ongoing infrastructure challenges.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/12/10-african-countries-with-the-longest-road-networks/

Liverpool forward, Rio Chima Ngumoha, is eligible to represent Nigeria.

Ngumoha wrote his name into the Premier League champions’ history books with a sensational 100th-minute winner against Newcastle United on Monday.

The 16-year-old came off the bench in the 94th minute with the scoreline at 2-2, to curl in a late winner for the Reds.

Ryan Gravenberch’s low drive gave Liverpool the lead against the run of play, before Anthony Gordon was sent off for a tackle on Virgil van Dijk.

At the start of the second half, Hugo Ekitike doubled their advantage, making it two goals in as many games for Arne Slot’s men.

Bruno Guimarães pulled one back with a powerful header, before substitute William Osula equalized in the 88th minute.

With barely a minute left on the clock, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped over a cross for Ngumoha to sweep the ball home.

The goal made the teenager Liverpool’s youngest ever Premier League goalscorer.

Born in England to Nigerian parents, Ngumoha has already represented England at youth level but remains eligible for Nigeria.

Source: https://dailypost.ng/2025/08/26/epl-liverpool-hero-rio-ngumoha-eligible-to-play-for-nigeria/

Nigeria’s GDP expected to expand between 3.2% and 3.9% in Q2 2025 on rebasing, stable FX, stronger business activity

Nigeria’s economy is projected to post stronger growth in Q2 2025, with analysts forecasting real GDP expansion between 3.2% and 3.9%.

This would outpace both Q1 2025 growth of 3.13% and the corresponding period of 2024, reflecting improved macro stability and rising non-oil output.

The positive outlook is underpinned by the recent GDP rebasing, relative exchange rate stability, and expansion across financial services, telecoms, and industry.

In Q1 2025, GDP growth was underpinned by resilience in services and other non-oil sectors despite headwinds in the oil industry; Q2 is expected to build on this momentum.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release the official GDP report later this month.

Expert projections

Head of Research at Norrenberg, Samuel Oyekanmi

The recently concluded rebasing of the GDP framework is expected to sharpen visibility into sectoral performance; a factor analysts believe will underpin stronger growth in Q2. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) averaged 52.2 points in Q2, compared with 51.3 points in Q1 2025 and 48.0 points in Q2 2024, reflecting improved expansion in business activities.

According to Samuel Oyekanmi, Head of Research at Norrenberg, “The Nigerian economy appears well positioned to record stronger growth in Q2 2025, outpacing both Q1 2025 and the corresponding period of 2024.” Oyekanmi projects GDP growth in the range of 3.5% to 3.7%, citing the rebasing exercise and expansion in the non-oil economy as key tailwinds.

Head of Research at Afrinvest West Africa, Damilare Asimiyu

Damilare forecast growth between 3.2% and 3.9%, driven by a robust non-oil sector expected to expand by 4.1%–4.6%, while the oil economy is projected to post a modest 2.0%–2.6% gain.

The subdued oil performance reflects relatively flat crude output of 1.48mbpd in Q2 (vs. 1.47mbpd in Q1), alongside weaker oil prices averaging $68.70/barrel, compared with $73.66 in Q1. Analysts highlight that the “Trump tariff effect” has dragged global demand, weighing on crude oil earnings.

On the other hand, the non-oil sector continues to gain traction. The services sector remains the primary growth driver, with finance & insurance benefiting from bank recapitalisation, while telecommunications activity is buoyed by tariff liberalisation. The industrial sector is also expected to post an improvement, with growth nudging to 3.6% in Q2 from 3.4% in Q1, helped by easing inflationary pressures and FX stability.

Conversely, the agriculture sector is projected to remain underwhelming, growing below its long-term average of 3%. Persistent insecurity in major food-producing states such as Benue and Plateau continues to dampen productivity.

Vice Chairman at Highcap Securities Prof. David Adonri

For Prof. David Adonri, the growth outlook is reinforced by macroeconomic stability. “Considering the moderating inflation, stable currency and increasing foreign reserves, GDP is expected to have grown in Q2 2025,” he stated.

Key drivers of expected GDP growth for Q2 2025

• GDP rebasing: Enhances visibility of fast-growing sectors, particularly services and telecoms.

• Macro stability: Inflation is easing, FX volatility has moderated, and reserves are improving.

• Business activity: PMI of 52.2 indicates stronger private-sector output.

• Non-oil momentum: Services, telecoms, and industry continue to expand, offsetting oil weakness.

Nairametrics’ take

Nigeria’s economy is set to record faster growth in Q2 2025 compared to the first quarter, as macro indicators point to stability and renewed confidence. The naira traded within a relatively narrow band, offering relief to manufacturers and import-dependent firms.

The quarter was further supported by a decline in fuel prices, which helped ease business operating costs and moderated inflationary pressures. On the capital markets side, the Nigerian Exchange posted a 13.54% gain in Q2, its strongest performance since early 2024 when it surged 39.84%.

Overall, the mix of FX stability, lower energy costs, and stock market rebound signals stronger GDP momentum in Q2, underpinned by improved conditions in the non-oil economy.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2025/08/25/nigerias-gdp-expected-to-expand-between-3-2-and-3-9-in-q2-2025-on-rebasing-stable-fx-stronger-business-activity/

After years of a whirlwind, things have already started looking up for Nigeria according to a lenghty article by Bloomberg. Nigeria recorded its first balance of payments surplus in three years for 2024, as reforms including boosting oil and gas production, removing fuel subsidies and free-floating the naira paid off.

Africa’s largest oil producer posted a surplus of $6.83 billion in 2024, compared with a $3.34 billion deficit a year earlier. And on the strength of Dangote’s plant, Nigeria has become a net exporter of petroleum products for the first time in three decades. The facility is expected to run completely on local crude when the foreign supply contracts of domestic ¬producers expire this year. The refinery has the capacity to process 650,000 barrels of oil a day, meeting Nigeria’s entire petrol demand and leaving room for exports to grow.

Nigeria has also now paid off $3.4 billion borrowed from the International Monetary Fund during the Covid-19 pandemic, exiting the list of countries in debt to the Washington-based lender.

Nigerian foreign exchange reserves have increased, inflation has moderated and the naira has stabilised. In May, Moody’s Corp. upgraded the country’s foreign currency debt rating.

Assembling economic data about Nigeria’s economic well-bing is a continuous process, dependent on information that’s sometimes incomplete or late in arriving, which can lead to dramatic corrections as happened in the US a few weeks ago. Another such shift happened in Nigeria last month when it was announced that the nation’s gross domestic product was suddenly more than 30% bigger.

Gathering figures for an emerging or frontier market isn’t straightforward — particularly given how much activity occurs outside the formal part of the economy that features salaried workers. Arguably, the revised look at Nigeria offers a more accurate picture.

It remains the fourth-largest economy on the African continent, having lost its status as No. 1 two years ago, when President Bola Tinubu endorsed a more realistic exchange rate by letting the naira float more freely.

The new data show the west African nation to be more agricultural and less industrialised than before, according to an assessment by JPMorgan Chase economist Gbolahan Taiwo.

Manufacturing is less than 9% of GDP now, versus the near 14% previously claimed. And the “informal” sector is now bigger, at almost 43% of GDP — reflecting a nation that provides its citizens with few services.

In Nigeria’s economy, “you have to provide almost everything by yourself,” says Aliko Dangote, the nation’s and perhaps Africa’s most successful self-made.

There’s a long ways to go though. Almost a third of Nigeria’s 230 million-plus people live on less than $2.15 a day, the World Bank’s definition of extreme poverty. Life expectancy is age 54, five years lower than that of Somalia. Petrol and diesel generators provide much of the power consumed in the country because of perennial outages, and the skylines of big cities are littered with tanks holding water from privately dug boreholes.

This reality — grinding poverty in a country with great natural wealth — is common.

Economists call it the “resource curse” and consider Nigeria a prime example. The idea is that oil and other minerals can often hinder rather than help countries’ development.

Studies have found that overreliance on such bounty can crowd out other industries, leaving countries underdeveloped and subject to volatile commodity prices.

Source: https://businessday.ng/business-economy/article/nigeria-exiting-years-of-economic-doldrum-but-hard-road-ahead-still/

AEC Unity Network Limited has expressed confidence that work on its proposed 470-kilometre Abuja-Lagos Superhighway will soon commence, a development expected to cut travel time significantly between Nigeria’s two busiest cities.

Speaking to journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, the company’s Chairman, Dr Kenny Martins, described the $4 billion project as a landmark initiative that would provide a safer, faster, and more reliable alternative to existing road networks.

According to him, the highway will be designed for vehicles to move at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour, drastically reducing the hours spent on the road.

“This is more than just a road. The Abuja-Lagos Superhighway will be a transformational infrastructure project that changes the way people and goods move between the Federal Capital Territory and Lagos.

“It will also open up rural communities, create jobs, and unlock new economic opportunities across the states it traverses,” Martins said.

The superhighway will cut across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, and the FCT, with additional spurs to Ondo State and Baro Port in Niger State, a move projected to boost regional trade and logistics.

Dr Martins noted that, once operational, the road would help decongest existing corridors while reducing the cost and stress of moving commuters and cargo between Abuja and Lagos.

He added that the project is being implemented in collaboration with the Federal Executive Council, FEC, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, and the Federal Ministry of Works, under the supervision of Minister Dave Umahi.

“This road is not just for today but for future generations. By the grace of God, very soon Nigerians will be driving on this superhighway,” he assured.

Source: https://dailypost.ng/2025/08/20/4bn-abuja-lagos-superhighway-set-to-take-off-aec/

The federal ministry of foreign affairs has unveiled Asfaar, Nigeria’s first visa application centre, aimed at processing travel requests and tackling document fraud.

Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, said Asfaar is crucial to safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereignty in its dealings with other countries.

Tuggar, represented by Alkasim Abdulkadir, his special assistant on media and communications strategy, spoke in Abuja on Tuesday during the press launch and media tour of the visa processing facility.

A number of visa service providing agencies operate in Nigeria, including French-owned TLScontact and VFS Global headquartered in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“Before now, one of the major issues that countries have with Nigeria is the sanctity and integrity of its data,” the minister said.

“So what they usually say is that ‘We’re not sure whether its your country, people have fake passports, people are traveling on data of other countries to come to our countries’. These are some of the issues that Nigeria has been facing in the past.

“However, in the last two years, there has been a process to tidy up the data that is coming out of Nigeria.

So, this includes collaboration with ONSA, collaboration with NIMC, collaboration with the ministry of foreign affairs to ensure that the data—the passport and other documents of agencies—are tidied up and have the integral value for it to travel.

“What has now happened is that Asfaar came at the right time, where it is using its processes to ensure a further verification of the data that is provided.”

Jamil Hausawi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Asfaar, said the agency was created to ease the increasing visa restrictions and challenges faced by Nigerians travelling abroad.

Hausawi noted that while visa approvals remain the responsibility of embassies, applicants using Asfaar will have relevant government agencies step in as intermediaries if issues arise.

He said Asfaar will be launched in three phases, noting that the first phase will cover the Arab and Gulf states, which attract a high traffic of Nigerian travellers — many of whom visit multiple times yearly for hajj and umrah — but where visa restrictions in recent years have posed major challenges.

He added that the second phase will extend to Asia and Australia, while the third phase will span Europe and the US but noted that the rollout would be “gradual”.

Nelson Obiabo, Asfaar spokesperson, noted that the agency has only begun skeletal services with full operation to commence as soon as integration with embassies and consulates is finalised.

Source: https://www.thecable.ng/fg-unveils-asfaar-nigerias-first-visa-application-agency/

Kukutente23:
Was this trend not started by South Africans to mock Nigerians online?

I don't think so

If Naija host the world cup memes. Funny memes.

Thank you.

Guys, please this is just for funs.

Thank You and enjoy.

Fenerbahce manager, Jose Mourinho, has said Lionel Messi is the player who made him grow the most in his career.

Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers ever to have graced the game.

And Mourinho has faced the Argentine legend many times.

Messi made his first-team debut for Barcelona in a friendly match against Mourinho’s Porto in November 2003.

Mourinho then faced Messi and Barcelona in LaLiga during his time as Real Madrid’s manager.

He also came up against Messi in the Champions League in epic battles with Chelsea and Inter.

When asked by Sporty Net to name the player who has helped him grow the most, Mourinho replied: “Messi, because every time I played against him he forced me to think a lot.”

Source: https://dailypost.ng/2025/08/19/messi-player-who-helped-me-most-in-my-career-mourinho/

…Akwa Ibom, Lagos, and Edo top FAAC recipients

Nigeria’s sub-nationals are yet to break free from federal lifelines as new data show that Jigawa, Taraba and Sokoto are states that are overwhelmingly dependent on the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

An Agora Policy report reviewed by BusinessDay shows that FAAC disbursements accounted for 73.8 percent of total revenues of 30 states in the first half (H1) of 2025, highlighting the structural weakness of states’ finances two years after fuel subsidies were scrapped and oil receipts swelled their purse.

Of the N6.05 trillion realised in H1 2025, N4.46 trillion came from FAAC allocations, while merely N1.59 trillion was from the internally generated revenue (IGR). The IGR revenue was just 26.2 percent of the total.

Only Lagos broke the trend, with federal transfers representing less than a third of its N1.28 trillion total revenue.

“Akwa Ibom, Lagos, and Edo topped the list of states that received more FAAC revenue than projected, while Osun, Zamfara, and Kaduna recorded the highest shortfalls compared to their FAAC projections,” the policy think-tank said.

A total of 11 states, including Ekiti and Cross River, beat their IGR targets, but 19 fell behind. Jigawa, Taraba, and Sokoto were among the weakest performers, reflecting weak tax compliance systems and limited economic activity outside federal transfers.

Ayo Teriba, CEO of Economics Associates (EA), attributed the weakness in IGR to the inability of states to “exploit the opportunities they have within,” stressing that investment is key to unlocking revenue.

“How many of them have an intrastate metro service, a rail line that unlocks internally generated revenue. Lagos is the exception,” Teriba said. ”Having this will create employment and generate revenue.”

The economist noted that while not all the states have the resources to exploit, maximising the little could be enough to attract investors.

Samuel Sule, CEO of Renaissance Capital Africa, said: “More compliance and higher state taxes and duties will reverse this trend.”

Tax structure entrenches dependence

Analysts say the root of the problem is Nigeria’s fiscal architecture.

“Maybe the states are not doing enough to generate IGR, but it’s because of the nature and structure of our tax system,” said Muda Yusuf, director-general of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise.

Corporate income tax, petroleum royalties, and value-added tax flow into the central pool before redistribution, leaving states reliant on pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax as their main lever.

“And some of those revenues that normally should have come directly to them are also paid to the central pool,” Yusuf added.

To plug leakages and broaden the tax base, Nigeria passed four new revenue laws scheduled to take effect in January 2026.

While the reforms are designed to protect low-income earners and strengthen collection, most revenues will still accrue to the centre, limiting the fiscal autonomy of states.

“Without reforming the tax assignment system, states will remain locked into a dependency cycle where FAAC allocations dictate fiscal outcomes,” warned a Lagos-based economist.

Infrastructure deficit

Beyond weak structural tax systems, infrastructure deficits deepen the challenge.

States without seaports, airports, or robust industrial clusters face narrower tax bases, leaving them unable to mimic Lagos, which generated more than N890 billion in IGR in the first half of 2025, more than the combined IGR of 25 states.

Source: https://businessday.ng/business-economy/article/jigawa-taraba-sokoto-top-faac-lifeline-dependent-states/#google_vignette

There is a widespread demand for student visas, fueled by the desire of international students to find adequate educational opportunities abroad and enhance their career prospects.

A student visa allows students to legally reside and study in the foreign country of their choice.

In this article, we list the countries with the lowest proof of funds for student visas in 2025.

All the listed countries require under $10,000 USD per year, making them a viable option for students seeking affordable international education.

Countries with lowest proof of funds for students visa

1. Czech Republic

The Czech Republic leads the list, requiring only about $1,600 per year in accessible funds. It is very budget-friendly for students. Proof of funds can be demonstrated through bank account statements or other credible means showing access to the required amount.


2. China

China is also affordable, with about $2,500 in proof of funds required, plus low overall tuition fees. Some key reasons why China has a low proof-of-funds requirement for student visas include:

3. Poland

Poland requires just $2,328, making it one of the most accessible destinations in Europe for visas. Poland is an attractive destination for students because expenses for accommodation, food, transportation, and healthcare are much cheaper, allowing students to live well on a modest budget. Poland also allows international students to work part-time during studies without needing an additional work permit, helping students earn a living while studying.

4. Italy

Another affordable option is Italy, with proof of funds ranging from about $3,375 to $7,930, still under the $10,000 mark. Italy is a popular choice for international students because it offers a quality educational experience along with accessible financial requirements.

5. Singapore

Singapore, at $6,175, also remains an affordable option in the Asian continent.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/07/5-countries-with-the-lowest-proof-of-funds-for-student-visas-in-2025/

I’ve been thinking about it, and I want us to sincerely answer these questions:

1. Will the North vote for His Excellence Mr. Peter Obi in case he emerges as ADC presidential candidate?

2. Will the South vote for His Excellence Alhaji Atiku Abubakar if he emerges as ADC presidential candidate?

3. Does His Excellence Mr. Rotimi Amaechi have the clout and war chest to battle President Bola Tinubu in case the His Excellence Mr. Rotimi Amaechi emerges as ADC presidential candidate?

4. Will His Excellence Mr. Peter Obi agrees to be Vice President under His Excellence Alhaji Atiku Abubakar ?

Thank You.

ADC Coalition: Obidients free to support Obi, I have right to back Atiku  —  Momodu

The publisher of Ovation magazine, Chief Dele Momodu, has reiterated his support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to emerge as the presidential candidate of the opposition coalition on the platform of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

He said his support for Atiku does not stop Obidients from expressing their support for their principal.

Momodu justified his support for Atiku, saying the former VP is his best choice among the presidential aspirants in the ADC.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Monday, Momodu said the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, wants a southerner to emerge as the ADC candidate because the party and its leaders are afraid of Atiku.

“My best choice is Atiku. And that is what I expect Obidients to say, which I expect those who support Amaechi to say.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. This game is a game of numbers, and the people who are most aggrieved today are in the northern part of Nigeria.

“If you listen to Wike very well, they’ve all been campaigning that the next president should still come from the southern Nigeria. But they know very well that there’s no southerner today.

“The only one who could have attempted it is Wike. But since he is supporting Asiwaju, he is no longer available. The moment they started pushing campaigns of calumny against Atiku, you must know that they feel threatened by Atiku.”

The ADC chieftain proffered that aspirants should test their popularity in the party’s primary.

“I have never asked anyone not to support Obi. Obi is my very good friend. If you asked me about one of the people who should lead the coalition, I would say it should be Obi. As a democrat, I am appealing to them, hoping they will be able to do it democratically so that they will not say they were forced upon them.

“Let them all go to the field. Let all Obidients campaign for Obi, let those Atikulates campaign for Atiku and let the Amaechis campaign for Amaechi. That is my belief.”

Momodu reiterated that Atiku is a good example of what a leader should be in Nigeria.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/07/adc-coalition-obidient-free-to-support-obi-i-have-right-to-support-atiku-momodu/

• Analyst asks anti-Tinubu coalition to prepare to fight.

• Says ‘we are talking about people who monumentally de-marketed Jonathan, PDP’.

• WARNS OBIDIENTS: There are no polling booths on the internet.

•ON MBAH: If you don’t want Enugu gov to defect, give him reasons.

Who will step down for the other? That is the key question a political analyst, Prof Okey Ikechukwu, tries to answer in this interview as the anti-Tinubu coalition moved into the African Democratic Congress (ADC), last week, to confront the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 polls.

No fewer than three top members of the coalition have indicated interest in picking the presidential ticket of the alliance, and there could be more as we inch closer to 2027. Former VP Atiku Abubakar ranks high on the list.

Mr Peter Obi and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi is also in the race, as they have said they will spend only one term if given the ticket and elected president in 2027.

Obi and Amaechi’s position aligns with the agitation that the South should remain in power until 2031, when it is expected to shift to the North. President Bola Tinubu, also a southerner like Obi and Amaechi, will finish his first term in 2027 and is warming up to contest for a second term.

Ikechukwu, who is the Executive Director of the Development Specs Academy, asks the coalition to prepare to fight as the people they will face in 2027 are tough, citing the monumental de-marketing of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2023 polls by them.

He warns that the Obidient Movement risks repeating the mistakes of 2023 if it continues to rely on online popularity rather than building real political structures on the ground. He describes the reinstatement of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the PDP National Secretary as a decision that could further alienate members in the South-East.

The analyst also speaks on the rumoured defection of Governor Mbah of Enugu from the PDP. Excerpts:

The PDP said it reinstated Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary to save the party from implosion. Do you think what the PDP declared on Monday was a pyrrhic victory?

Well, it might turn out to be at the end of the day, but the question of the party imploding, it already imploded long before now. The critical issue on the table is the choice of Anyanwu, and then the submission from the South-East Caucus that Anyanwu is not their candidate. Question number one, is this new in the PDP or in any of the political parties? The answer is no. If you think back to 2019, Atiku contested for the office of president under the PDP, with Peter Obi as his running mate.

The same reaction you’re getting now is the reaction you got from the South-East. If you recall, after Peter was chosen by Atiku, there was a press conference by those who called themselves South-East stakeholders within the PDP. That group was led by, I think, then-Governor Dave Umahi.

They addressed Nigerians that “this is not our choice”. But the candidacy or choice of Peter Obi stood despite that. That reaction was based, I think, on the assumption or the understanding behind the scenes that Ekweremadu was going to be the candidate.

And if you recall, the feelers from the PDP was that nobody knew this was coming, and that Atiku made the announcement and fled the premises. The other point to note is that you asked about whether it would be a pyrrhic victory. Remember that that 2019 election, Peter got majority votes in the South-East.

But those who voted for him made sure that Buhari also got 25 percent of the votes which he needed in order to win. So it is for them to ask themselves the question: What we are doing now, what will it deliver to us? But, more importantly, you may have a party caucus that’s also not on ground.

The challenge is for Anyanwu to prove that he’s the big boy those supporting him think he is. If he’s the big boy, if he has clout, but his brothers and sisters don’t want him, let him show that. Now, let’s place some facts on principle on the table and then come to the matter of general politics.

In principle, you cannot challenge a political party for taking a position on any issue. But from the matter of building party cohesion and synergy and giving everybody a sense of belonging, it would make sense to say, “Look, if you’re choosing somebody from my family, I should be the one to say this is the person I want to represent us in the village square”. So, I can understand the caucus concern.

But take that concern even further back to the time of Obasanjo. Most of the Senate presidents chosen when the South-East had the presidency, were they really the candidates of the South-East? Probably, except one. So, those are the things to consider. As for implosion, the PDP imploded long ago. And I’ll give you the reason for it. Think of the re-entry of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar into the PDP, and he got the ticket, and how many people got annoyed, and how very powerful politicians in the North said, “Okay, he has got the ticket, let us see how he’s going to win the presidency”. That party is trying to pretend that it still has an identity.

It’s trying to pretend that the NEC can actually take binding decisions. It’s trying to pretend that it can control its membership when nobody can control Nyesom Wike. So, this party will participate in the 2027 election, but I doubt that it will contest. And what that means is, if you’re contesting with me for a gunfight and you come with a catapult, you’re participating, you’re not contesting because the contest is to be prepared and equipped to win. The party is not poised to win that election at the level of strategy, at the level of cohesion, at the level of building internal democracy, and at the level of making all the regions feel they belong.

The issue in the South-East would mean that those who are angry will engage in anti-party activities These are the challenges and dangers the PDP should contemplate and navigate now that it’s taken the decision that it has to be Senator Anyanwu.

Considering the speculation that Mr Peter Mba of Enugu State might be the next governor to decamp to the APC, the emergence of the coalition and how they have adopted the ADC, bringing in disgruntled PDP members and the Peter Obi effect and the stronghold that he has in the South-East, where do you see the dice falling?

You cannot have a coalition of people who are not only disgruntled, but all of them have had very disturbing relationships with each other in the past, have ideological differences, and there are also nearly all of them angling for the position (presidency).

Who will step down for the other? Secondly, all this talk about coalition, apart from Abuja, Lagos, and maybe press releases, what efforts are being made at the levels below the national, even the periphery of the national, to create some kind of understanding, some kind of building, building backwards, and say “let’s go to our party members in the states and tell them it’s in our interest to do this?”.

They want to form a coalition at the top, and, with it, rule Nigeria. That is problem number one. Problem number two, look at the relationship between nearly all of them.

Remember that El-Rufai has the challenge of the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Then Babachir Lawal is a die-hard Christian. Many people think that Atiku Abubakar should step down.

Rotimi Amaechi is on the table, and some of us are not entirely sure what he’s bringing to that table. David Mark is there also, a two-time Senate president with a lot of clout. Picture a room where all of them are sitting together to form a government for Nigeria. How will the conversation go? What are the policy issues they will bring up? They are likely to discuss positions. Who will be vice president? It’s not about development, even though the intention on the table, on the pretext, is development. Their concern is to remove the APC government.

Supposing, for instance, in doing this, they are telling us this is what we want to put on the table once we get rid of the APC…

You see, there will be a basis for conversation. But to sound very angry, to tell us, “Nigeria, all of us are suffering”, we know that, including those who are telling us that we are suffering.

What do we intend to do about it? What are the alternative policies? What strategies are in place? The parties in which you are today, are they doing well? Is there internal democracy in those parties? The states where your party is governing today, are they doing well? Are the governors exceptional? When you consider all of these, I look at the whole coalition talk with a lot of pessimism for the simple reason that whereas it would be wonderful for them to replace APC by whatever name they choose to call the party, the question I ask myself is, are they really preparing to do that? There’s a difference between engagement and strategic engagement. You want to deal with the rain and a leaking roof, and you bring only buckets.

You’re not thinking of replacing the roof. They are not being strategic, and the profiles of the individuals involved present a double barrel negative challenge for all of them. They should prepare for a fight if they are serious, and I don’t see them being sufficiently strategic to do that.

Mba’s defection

Peter Mba’s defection is a possibility. Could that make people say, “Oh, this man is not reliable?” Yes. They can say that, but I will also ask, is ideological conversion possible? Yes. Do defections occur in political parties? Yes. Do some of us like it? No. Does it remove the fact that somebody can do it? It doesn’t.

If you don’t want him to defect, give him reasons not to defect. If somebody is going to defect from your party, why is he doing so? What’s the problem with your party? Why is he moving? If you can prevent him, first of all admit your own shortcomings that are making people vacate your own address.

Obi’s effect

The third point is the Peter Obi factor. Yes, Peter Obi is very popular not only in the South-East but all over the federation. The Obidient Movement is strong and powerful and even growing stronger. But as I keep telling the movement, there are no polling booths on the internet. There’s no polling booth on Facebook or Instagram. Polling booths are in specific local locations, and they have to be manned by party agents. That’s fact number one.

Fact number two is, are the Labour Party or the Obidients or both of them together building any kind of cohesion such that there’s a progressive development of ideological purity, group cohesion, meetings and encounters, leading to the development of structures at the ground level? I’m not seeing it. Finally, on the Peter Obi factor, Obidients have argued convincingly and correctly, that, “Look, we’ve proven a lot of people wrong. They say that without structures you cannot win elections in Nigeria but, without structures, see all the votes we got in Lagos, see all the votes we got all over the country”.

Fantastic! But there’s an Igbo saying that if the person who uses a mousetrap sets a mousetrap in order to catch a chimpanzee, the trap will actually catch the chimpanzee but you know the problem? The hunter will neither come home with his trap nor the meat of a chimpanzee. You got all the votes, no question about that. You won Lagos, I believe you. Did those votes come into your pocket? No. Why? If you know the answer to that question, are you doing anything about it? Look, they are just wasting the time they need to prepare for the next elections in speech making, in self-adulation, and in what you might call conversations that are not going further down. They are wasting the potential and possibilities of that movement.

Discretionary expenses

And if you recall, in the last elections, the Labour Party is correct in saying “we no dey give shishi” but I’ll ask that party to make a distinction between mandatory expenses and discretionary expenses. If you send me to go to the market and buy you groundnut, and give me the money for the groundnut, but no money for transport, you say, “Oh, I’m a volunteer”. But I may get tired on the way. And the danger is that your enemy may give me a ride.

They have to recalibrate the conception of “I no dey give shishi” to mean “we will not bribe or spend money to subvert the process, but we’ll deal with necessary costs for those who will work for us”. That’s number one. Number two, they must develop legs on the ground.

Number three, and most critically, they must structure their funding clearly and tie it to specific things that enable parties to develop. It’s not when there is anything to be done, you begin to find out, “Oh, we have to buy ticket for this person, so remove him from the list of those who are traveling”.

As long as they go on like this, they will also participate in 2027 but they will not contest. That’s in the element of the Obidient Movement, Peter himself, and the rest of it. They are not preparing to displace APC because you’re talking about a party that used fantastic strategy as opposition, de-marketed the PDP comprehensively, de-marketed Jonathan comprehensively, sometimes without data, claiming, “Oh, once we come in, we’ll have one naira to one dollar”. He came to the primaries contrary to everybody’s expectation, Tinubu got the ticket. He came to the election, “Oh, so it’s a walkover. How can he? He has lost”.

He won the election. No matter the means, people are still seething with anger about the method. But the truth of the matter is that if you’re going to displace or take on such a person, prepare for the fight. If you want to go into wrestling, prepare for wrestling. Don’t go and prepare with wrestling skills for boxing.

Then when they defeat you, you say, “Oh, the man was too violent”. Are you not the one who said you wanted to fight? So I think this delusional element of hoping that applause from the people will give you the presidency, it will not. That movement needs to super up, impressive as it is, it needs to develop more or less on the ground.

What strategy do you think the coalition should adopt and what can or should the APC be doing to reaffirm the strong position it currently has?

First of all, the coalition should define its ideological trajectory. “We are coming in to replace the APC because we want to do this and this”. That’s number one. Number two: “This is how we are going to do it, implementation of strategies.

The kind of candidate we want will be this type of candidate, a competent Nigerian, but in order to create balance, the president will come from this place, the vice president will come from this place. Then, in terms of spread, we are going to hold meetings. First, each of the coalition parties will meet at the ward level, council level, state and regional level”. Then come to the national to announce, “Yes, we’ve created an organic engagement”. They need to do a drill down. If they do these three things, people will become clear about their narrative and know whether to trust them or not.

But to keep coming on air and saying “we are doing coalition to remove Tinubu”, how do you assume that removing him will give us anything better? And this has nothing to do whether he’s there or not. If they like, let them remove him.

I’m suffering like everyone else. But the point I’m making is, there was a time in this country we said “anything but Jonathan, get rid of him, he’s incompetent”. Buhari came in and everybody said, “Good heavens, we’re in hell”. Buhari has left, Tinubu is here and we are screaming.

So the ability to complain is not the issue. Plan a strategic displacement template, apply it. For instance, people are asking, why will certain people be the ones who are standing to contest? And all the individuals mentioned have their challenges. Clear all of that, then you’re making sense. Otherwise, this is just entertainment with all due respect to the persons involved, it will peter out.

Regarding the APC, the party has no business celebrating the volume of people decamping because as they are coming, you must also be welcoming and warehousing them. This second element is critical. If you planned a party for 50 people, now 75 people have turned up, please make sure you don’t leave everybody coming in standing around. The place will become disrupted.

So the possibility of that problem is there. But more importantly, it’s for the APC to begin to articulate more clearly its policies. The engagement in 2027 is coming a little too early. I think the APC might need to ask some of those excitedly jumping up and down for that and clearly looking for money to spend on those who will sponsor them that it may all backfire. Focus on your programs. Tell us how you are reaching the grassroots.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/07/adc-big-question-who-steps-down-as-peter-obi-atiku-amaechi-eye-ticket/

A lawyer and activist, Deji Adeyanju has said that Peter Obi can only get the position of a vice presidential candidate in the 2027 election.

Adeyanju said the only thing the 2023 presidential candidate for the Labour Party is a VP slot for Atiku Abubakar should the coalition plan pull through.

In a post made on X, Adeyanju noted that almost all the Northern politicians have a strong advantage in the current political situation.

He also noted the Northern politicians are the ones who have what it takes to take over power from President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

On the Obidient Movement, Adeyanju said its members would still find it difficult to read the handwriting on the wall on the happenings within the political space.

The best Obi can get in 2027 is Atiku’s VP this is because Atiku and the northern politicians now hold all the aces.

Only northern politicians have the capacity to challenge Tinubu. Deluded obidients won’t still be able to read the room even with the clear handwriting on the wall.

https://x.com/adeyanjudeji/status/1932727061300343296?t=YWOR1VlLT6aK0TrOXDlOxg&s=19

Atiku has been at the forefront of the coalition campaign aimed at ousting President Tinubu from power.

A two-time presidential candidate, the former vice has also been working towards building alliances for the coalition plan.

The proposed opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections is set to begin the process of registering a new political party, following the rejection of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) by stakeholders.

The development follows reports that prominent opposition leaders, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, may adopt the ADC as a common platform to challenge the incumbent government.

The latest move was confirmed by the League of Northern Democrats (LND), a part of the opposition movement, which declared that neither the ADC nor SDP could serve the strategic needs of the coalition.

“Following an exhaustive internal review, wide consultations and critical evaluation of the strategic pathways available to the National Opposition Coalition Group ahead of the 2027 general elections,” LND Convener Dr Umar Ardo declared on Saturday, “we, select members of the League of Northern Democrats (LND), in furtherance to our 22 May resolutions, hereby issue the following unanimous resolutions.”

According to Ardo, attempts to merge into existing parties are fraught with structural, legal and ideological risks.

“The ADC, SDP and similar existing parties already possess entrenched ward, local government, state and zonal structures whose leadership tenures remain legally binding and often deeply resistant to reform,” he said.

“Fusing into such parties without full and prior harmonisation of interests and control of these structures invites chaos, factionalism, litigation and paralysis.”

Citing examples of past failed alliances, including the collapse of the NNPP fusion with Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Ardo warned of repeating history if the coalition enters a pre-existing party without full control.

He also dispelled concerns that time was insufficient to establish a new party.

“Contrary to certain fears, the timeframe between now and the 2027 elections is sufficient for a serious and focused coalition to register and build a credible new political party,” Ardo said.

“We assert that the opposition movement we advocate is not just about seizing power. It is about presenting a national rebirth rooted in values, principles and competence,” the group stated.

“A new party, by contrast, provides a clean ideological slate, a fresh institutional architecture and a compelling narrative of rebirth, one that can win the hearts and minds of Nigerians weary of recycled platforms and failed promises. ‘Sabuwar tafiya yakamata a Sabuwar Jam’iya!’”

Based on these conclusions, the LND issued a set of formal recommendations being:

“That the opposition coalition adopts registration of a new party as its first stance;

That the opposition immediately initiates the process of registering a new political party with a unifying name, clear ideology and inclusive leadership charter;

That this new party shall reflect the diversity of Nigeria while being rooted in merit, justice, productivity and patriotism;

That all conversations and moves toward fusing into existing political parties should be taken as a fallback option;

That the LND will commit itself to mobilising other patriotic actors, civil society voices and young Nigerians to rally behind this new formation as the vehicle for national redemption.”

The recommendations were signed by thirteen senior figures within the LND, including Dr Umar Ardo, AVM Monday Morgan (Retd), Senator AbdulRahman Abubakar, Rt. Hon. Aminu Shehu Shagari, Dr Bilkisu Magoro, Rear Admiral Jamila Malafa (Retd), and others.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/05/anti-tinubu-coalition-neither-adc-nor-sdp-can-serve-our-purpose-northern-democrats/

Wealthiest cities in the world

​In 2025, the global distribution of wealth is witnessing notable shifts, with traditional financial centers maintaining their dominance while emerging cities gain prominence. According to a recent report by Henley & Partners in collaboration with New World Wealth, cities like New York and the Bay Area continue to lead, while others like Singapore and Sydney are rapidly ascending in the ranks.​

1. New York City

​New York City remains at the pinnacle of global wealth, housing approximately 384,500 millionaires, 818 centi-millionaires (individuals with assets over $100 million), and 66 billionaires.Despite challenges such as high living costs and safety concerns, the city's robust financial sector, luxury real estate, and cultural significance continue to attract the ultra-wealthy.​

2. The Bay Area

​Encompassing San Francisco and Silicon Valley, the Bay Area has experienced a significant surge in wealth, with about 305,700 millionaires. This marks a 98% increase over the past decade, driven by the tech industry's growth and a culture of innovation.​

3. Tokyo

​Tokyo stands as Asia's wealthiest city, boasting 298,300 millionaires.Its economic stability, strong corporate presence, and technological advancements contribute to its sustained wealth accumulation.​

4.Singapore

​Singapore is emerging as a preferred destination for high-net-worth individuals, with 244,800 millionaires and 30 billionaires.Factors such as pro-business policies, safety, and the absence of capital gains tax make it an attractive hub for the affluent.​

5.Los Angeles

​Los Angeles combines entertainment with business, hosting 212,100 millionaires, 516 centi-millionaires, and 43 billionaires.Beyond its Hollywood allure, the city is a significant center for technology, real estate, and various industries.​

6. London

​London, with 227,000 millionaires, has seen a 15% decline in its wealthy population over the past decade. Factors such as Brexit, increased taxation, and changes in domicile rules have influenced this trend. Nevertheless, London's cultural and historical significance continues to hold appeal.​

7. Paris

​Paris maintains its position as mainland Europe's wealthiest city, with 165,000 resident millionaires.The city's blend of culture, fashion, and business continues to attract affluent individuals.​

8. Hong Kong

​Despite a slight decrease, Hong Kong remains a major financial hub with 154,900 millionaires.Its strategic location and financial services sector continue to draw wealth.​

9. Sydney

​Sydney has risen in the ranks, now home to 152,900 high-net-worth individuals.The city's economic growth and quality of life contribute to its increasing appeal among the wealthy.​

10. Chicago

​Chicago rounds out the top ten, with 127,100 millionaires.Its diversified economy and strategic location make it a significant center for wealth in the United States.​

Source: https://m.economictimes.com/nri/visit/top-10-wealthiest-cities-in-the-world-in-2025/new-york-city/slideshow/121339366.cms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbTEq8EUkRc?si=JtSJ2O9HNkteTV8i

Cubana Chief Priest recently shared a photo and video from his visit to Vice President Kashim Shettima.

In the post, the celebrity barman is seen kneeling in respect while the VP smiles warmly. The caption?
“Na my papa be this.”

The two were also captured in a cheerful conversation, exchanging laughs and good energy in what seemed like a light but meaningful meeting.

Source: https://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2025/5/this-is-my-father-businessman-cubana-chief-priest-kneels-before-vp-shettima-video.html

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has projected that Lagos, Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states will experience the highest number of rainy days in 2025, ranging between 250 and 290 days.

This was contained in the agency’s 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction, released on Monday.

According to NiMet, the next category of states to record significant rainfall – between 200 and 250 rainy days – includes Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ebonyi, Anambra, and Enugu.

In the central region, states such as Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory are expected to record between 150 and 200 rainy days.

For the northern states of Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno, rainfall is projected to span between 110 and 150 days in the year.

NiMet also forecast that the total annual rainfall across the country will vary from 405 mm in the far north to 3,010 mm in coastal regions.

“The total amount of rainfall across Nigeria in 2025 is predicted to be between 405 mm in the far north and 3010 mm in the coastal states of the country.

“It is predicted that the annual rainfall total in Borno, Yobe, Sokoto, and Katsina states is likely to be less than 685 mm.

“Rainfall in the central states (parts of Niger, Kwara, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue states, and the FCT) is expected to range from 970 mm to 1500 mm.

“It is projected that Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states will have between 2700 mm and 3010 mm of annual rainfall total.

“The forecast shows that in 2025, the total rainfall amounts in most parts of Nigeria are likely to be normal to below normal when compared to the long-term average,” the report read.

Specifically, states like Borno, Yobe, Sokoto, and Katsina are expected to receive less than 685 mm of rainfall, while the central states – including parts of Niger, Kwara, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, and the FCT – may experience rainfall between 970 mm and 1,500 mm.

Coastal states such as Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom are projected to receive between 2,700 mm and 3,010 mm of rainfall.

NiMet noted that rainfall in most parts of the country in 2025 is expected to be normal to below normal compared to long-term averages.

However, parts of Kaduna, Ebonyi, Cross River, Lagos, Abia, Akwa Ibom, and the FCT are projected to witness above-normal annual rainfall totals.

The onset of the rainy season is expected between March and April in southern states such as Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Cross River, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, and Anambra.

In the central belt, rainfall is predicted to commence between April and May, covering Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba, and the FCT.

The northern states — Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Yobe, and Borno — are forecast to experience onset between early June and July.

However, delayed onset is expected in parts of Plateau, Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Adamawa, and Kwara states.

In contrast, an early onset is predicted for Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Anambra, and parts of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Lagos, Edo, Enugu, Imo, and Ebonyi states.

Normal onset dates are expected in the rest of the country.

NiMet also warned of severe dry spells of more than 15 days after the onset of rainfall in parts of Oyo State, including Saki, Iseyin, Ogbomosho, Atisbo, Orelope, Itesiwaju, Olorunsogo, Kajola, Iwajowa, and Ori Ire.

A moderate dry spell lasting up to 15 days may occur in Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Edo, Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Delta, Bayelsa, and Akwa Ibom.

For the northern states, a severe dry spell of up to 21 days is predicted during the peak rainy season, June to August.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency also projected that the 2025 rainy season will end between October 6 and December 17 across the country.

“The 2025 end-of-season is predicted to be between October 6 and December 17 across the country.

“It is expected that over the northern parts of the country, the end of the first week of October until late October will progress southwards, reaching the central states in early November and ending in mid-December in the southmost coastal states.

“The end of the season for the central states of Plateau, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, and the FCT is projected to occur from 7 November to 23 November.

“Furthermore, the inland states of Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, and Cross Rivers, and the coastal states of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Ondo, Ogun, and Lagos are expected to experience the end of the the season from 23 November to 17 December,” the report read.

The cessation of rainfall is predicted to begin in the northern states from the first week of October and gradually progress southwards.

“The earliest cessation date of the rainy season in the country is anticipated to be about 6th October 2025. This is expected in parts of Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina states.

“Other northern states of Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Borno, Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger, Gombe, and Adamawa will experience the cessation of the rainy season from th th around 14 October to 30 October.

“The prediction shows that earlier-than-normal cessation dates of the rainy season are anticipated in Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Ekiti, Ondo states and the FCT.

“Delayed cessation of the rainy season is expected over parts of Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue, Lagos, Kwara, Taraba, Oyo, Ogun, Cross River, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Anambra, and Enugu states,” the report further read.

Source: https://punchng.com/lagos-delta-four-others-to-record-250-rainy-days-nimet/

The UK government has cut the Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months, part of a sweeping crackdown on what it describes as “systemic abuse and mission drift” in international education, asylum, and family immigration.

The announcement, part of a broader Immigration White Paper released Monday, is paired with tougher compliance rules for universities, a legal reset on asylum and deportation decisions, and stricter enforcement powers to curb visa fraud.

“Migration must be controlled and compliant. Our reforms will close the backdoors and shut down abuse across the system,” the Home Office stated on its website.

Graduate Route Shortened, Sponsors Face Scrutiny

The Graduate Route — previously offering two years of post-study work rights — will now offer only 18 months, with a tighter pathway to work visas and fewer rights to bring dependants.

“The Graduate Route has not met its original objectives.

“It has become a loophole for unsponsored work and a magnet for abuse,” the document said.

Only institutions meeting “enhanced compliance standards” will be allowed to retain international recruitment licenses. Universities found to have low progression-to-work rates or engaged in misleading recruitment practices will face sanctions.

“We will take action against sponsors who undermine the integrity of the system,” it added.

Asylum Claims’ New Rejection Rules
The asylum system will also be restructured.

Applicants whose home country conditions have not materially changed — or who fail to claim upon arrival — may now be automatically refused under new admissibility rules.

“We will prevent late, opportunistic asylum claims and re-establish control over our border.

“The threshold for protection will be restored to its intended level,” the Home Office declared.

Tougher Deportation For Foreign Criminals

The government also promises legislation to expand deportation powers, allowing the removal of all foreign offenders, not just those jailed for more than 12 months.

“Deportation will apply to all foreign nationals convicted of offences, with increased focus on crimes involving violence against women and girls,” the paper stated.

The government also plans to restrict the use of Article 8 (right to family life) in appeals.

“Parliament, not the courts, should decide who stays. We will legislate to reset the balance,” the document read.

Visa Sponsorship To Face Penalties For Abuse

In a warning to universities, employers, and other sponsors, the Home Office said it will impose financial penalties, licence revocations, and recruitment bans for those found to have facilitated visa abuse.

“Sponsorship is a privilege, not a right.

“Sponsors will be held accountable for their international recruitment practices,” it read.

Bold Plan Necessary

These changes, the Home Office says, are part of a long-term plan to “restore credibility, reduce numbers, and deliver an immigration system the public can trust.”

“This is about rebuilding integrity.

“We’re making it clear that the UK welcomes global talent — but not at the cost of public confidence or border control,” said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Source: https://punchng.com/uk-slashes-graduate-visa-from-two-years-to-18-months/

Nollywood actress Angela Okorie has stirred social media with fresh allegations against her former close friend and fellow actress, Mercy Johnson Okojie. In a post that has since gone viral, Angela didn’t hold back as she revisited old wounds and made pointed remarks about their broken friendship.

Referring to Mercy in rather cryptic and fiery terms, Angela wrote: “Bl00d Şuck!ng d£m0n no see bl00d suck again, she say na sliming tea.” The statement, laced with heavy innuendo, suggests that Mercy has been pretending to be someone she is not, especially when it comes to her health and public image.

Although Angela didn't give full details, the jab implies that Mercy, who has often promoted slimming teas and fitness products, may be using them to cover up other actions or issues that Angela believes are not so innocent. The "blood-sucking demon" metaphor suggests betrayal or deception, hinting at deep-seated resentment and unresolved conflict between the two.

The pair were once known to be very close, often appearing in each other's social media posts and praising each other publicly. However, things have soured between them in recent years, with both sides reportedly unfollowing each other and ceasing all forms of communication.

This isn't the first time Angela Okorie has been vocal about strained relationships in the industry. She has gained a reputation for being outspoken and unafraid to name names when she feels wronged.

While Mercy Johnson Okojie has yet to respond to the latest remarks, fans of both actresses are now wondering if this will spark a new wave of drama in Nollywood.

SEE POST BELOW

Source: https://www.nollywoodtimes.com/2025/05/from-besties-to-beefs-angela-okorie.html?m=1

Care workers will no longer be recruited from overseas as part of a crackdown on visas for lower-skilled workers, the home secretary has told the BBC.

Yvette Cooper said it is "time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad" and rules will change this year - instead requiring firms to hire British nationals or extend visas of overseas workers already in the country.

The government plans to unveil changes to visa and recruitment laws on Monday in a bid to cut net migration, and says measures will cut up to 50,000 lower-skilled and care workers coming to the UK over the next year.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the plans were "too little" and called for an annual cap on migration.

Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.

Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000.

The Home Office has not yet officially confirmed what will be in its immigration White Paper, due early next week.

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Cooper said the government "was setting up plans for a substantial reduction in net migration" but added targets would not be set, saying "they undermined the credibility of anything that governments do".

The threshold for skilled visas is expected to be increased to graduate level, tightened from the current A-level measure.

There will also be a "narrower" list of exceptions to the rules for temporary shortage visas in some industries, Cooper said, but did not give examples.

Currently, roles considered to be in short supply in the UK like carpenters, graphic designers and pharmaceutical technicians can be placed on the Immigration Salary List (ISL), allowing employers to hire overseas workers at discount - set at 80% of the market rate.

Cooper said the government expects those changes will "lead to a reduction of up to 50,000 fewer lower skilled visas over the course of the next year".

As well as visa changes, the home secretary added there would be new requirements for training commitments "to get people who are not working back into the labour market here in the UK".

Philp - who said he agreed with the plan to end care worker recruitment from abroad - told the same programme the Conservatives would push Parliament to vote on a yearly migration cap this week.

When asked what the cap would be, he said "we're working on the detail to specify that number", but it would be "a further reduction of significantly more than 50,000".

He argued that if Labour had stuck with Tory changes net migration would have dropped "by about 400,000".

Cooper also said there would be "some changes" to rules around international students and graduates.

"We will let them continue to come and to stay and to work afterwards," she added.

"We are making some changes, particularly around the standards and the compliance for universities, because, again, we've had problems where some universities haven't had proper standards in place.

"They've recruited people to come as international students who then haven't completed their courses, have either overstayed or... other problems with compliance of the system."

The government has already tightened rules around care sector worker after coming to power last July.

Applications for Health and Care Worker visas peaked at 18,300 in August 2023, then collapsed to 1,700 by April this year following the ban on bringing dependants.

And on 9 April, an additional restriction was added requiring care firms who want to recruit a new worker from overseas to prove they attempted to recruit a worker from within England first.

But the new rules will require care companies to recruit from domestic workers or a pool of over 10,000 care workers brought to the UK on visas for jobs that never materialised.

Alongside this Cooper promised "to bring in a new fair pay agreement for care workers" to make care jobs more attractive to UK workers and reduce overseas demand.

Nadra Ahmed, the National Care Association's executive chairman, told the BBC the changes would a "challenging scenario" for care homes even "worse".

She said providers "always prefer to have a domestic workforce" but said it was not available.

Responding to the changes, the Liberal Democrats social care spokesperson Helen Morgan said the government was "tinkering around the edges yet failing to properly tackle the crisis in our social care".

"Labour must step up and take proper action to address recruitment shortages including paying our care workers properly and rolling out a plan for career progression," she said.

While Labour have been reviewing migration policy for months, many have suggested this week's crackdown was triggered by Reform UK's surge in the local elections, where it took the Runcorn and Helsby constituency off Labour and won control of 10 councils.

Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed "this new legislation is only happening because Reform is leading in the polls".

Labour's plan was "doomed to fail", he argued as immigration was "not just about what numbers come in but who comes in and if they can assimilate".

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c626dyd8y8wo

• Cocoa prices surged on world markets in 2023-2024.

• In Nigeria, thousands switch careers to grow cocoa

• Official: big share of Nigerian beans smuggled out

Growing up in Nigeria's cocoa farming area of Ikom in the southeast, Anyoghe Akwa did not see much of a future, so instead he decided to move away, study civil engineering and carve out a career in the construction industry.

That was until 2023, when he heard that cocoa prices were surging and farmers back home in Ikom were making a fortune.

"We saw 20-year-olds who never attended university generating a lot of money from cocoa farming, while those of us who were aspiring for a PhD were struggling," said Akwa, 47, who had enrolled in a doctorate programme.

"So we started to come back and opened our own farms."

Akwa is one of a cohort of new entrants to the sector, mostly men and nicknamed "cocoa boys", who have switched to farming or other jobs to cash in on the cocoa price surge.

The Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, which represents smallholder farmers, saw its membership increase by more than 10,000 in 2023-2024.

In Ikom, located in Cross River State on the border with Cameroon, most farmlands are owned by the community. Under an ancestral custom, a person with family roots in the community can present a bottle of wine, an offering of food and a modest sum of around 5,000 naira ($3) to receive a plot of land.

Akwa had inherited some farmland from his father and added some more through community allocation so he could plant more cacao trees, whose seeds are processed into cocoa and chocolate.

"Last year, I harvested four bags. I sold the first bag for 800,000 naira ($500), and the others between 1 million and 1.2 million naira per bag. It was a lot of money," he said, noting that sale of just one bag matched his annual salary as a civil engineer.

At the top price, Akwa was selling cocoa for 20 times its value in 2022, when the price of one 64-kg bag of beans was 60,000 naira, according to local growers.

NIGERIA'S COST OF LIVING CRISIS

A drop in output from Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's top two cocoa exporters which together account for 50% of global production, drove prices up from $2,200-$2,500 per metric ton in 2022 to nearly $11,000 in December 2024, according to the International Cocoa Organization, an inter-governmental body.


The price surge coincided with Nigeria's worst economic crisis in over three decades, with record numbers of people being plunged into poverty.

Those producing cocoa were largely protected, and even helped by a devaluation of the naira that made exports more competitive.

Growers are not the only beneficiaries. The cocoa business also involves factors, or middlemen between farmers and licensed buying agents, who warehouse the beans and sell on to exporters.

Ndubuisi Nwachukwu, 48, made the leap from banker to LBA in 2022, inspired by a business mentor. His timing turned out to be ideal.

"The income I've made these few years as an LBA, if you add up all the salary I earned as a banker, it is not up to it," he said.

In Ikom and other cocoa-producing areas, the newly-affluent "cocoa boys" are shaking up local economies and driving up housing costs.

"You can consider me to be a cocoa boy, because when you (talk about) cocoa now, people see you to be a 'big boy'," said Mark Bassey, 41, who left a low-paying job as a medical laboratory scientist to become a grower in his ancestral home.

As a boy, Bassey followed his mother to the cocoa plantation, so the skills were familiar to him. Like Akwa, he had wanted something different and had studied science at university, but he found it impossible to make a good wage.

"I know that I will still go back into my profession because of my love for it, but for now I want to focus on farming," said Bassey, who says he has quadrupled his income.

SMUGGLING AND HEDGING

Nigeria is the world's fourth-largest cocoa producer, according to the ICCO, but its output of 315,000 metric tons was far behind its West African rivals Ivory Coast and Ghana, at 2,241,000 and 654,000 respectively.

The influx of new farmers, coupled with new cocoa strains that bear fruit within 18 months and government efforts to boost the sector by handing out free seedlings, should be driving up output, but this is not reflected in official statistics.

"Putting all these things together, by now we believe that Nigeria's cocoa production level would have doubled," said Rasheed Adedeji, director of research and strategy at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.

One reason is that a significant proportion of Nigerian cocoa beans, around 200,000 tons a year, are smuggled out of the country, he said.

The CRIN says it has received over half a million requests for new cocoa seedlings so far this year, enough to cover 400,000 hectares of farmland, triple the demand seen in the same period last year.

Still, some of the new growers are hedging their bets. Akwa shuttles between his farm and various construction sites where he still directs teams of workers and foremen.

"I don't sleep because I have to keep calling them to see if they have done this or that," he said. But if prices hold, he sees a long-term future in cocoa. "With what I'm seeing, it's possible that I would switch to cocoa farming full-time."

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/cocoa-boys-flock-nigerian-farmlands-drawn-by-high-prices-2025-05-06/

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz has won a parliament vote to become Germany's next chancellor at the second attempt.

Merz had initially fallen six votes short of the absolute majority he needed on Tuesday morning - a significant blow to his prestige and an unprecedented failure in post-war German history.

As it was a secret ballot in the 630-seat Bundestag, there was no indication who had refused to back him - whether MPs from his centre-left coalition partner or his own conservatives.

After hours of uncertainty in the Bundestag, the parties and the president of the Bundestag agreed to hold a second vote, which Merz then won with 325 votes, a majority of nine.

His coalition with the Social Democrats should have had enough seats in parliament from the start, with 328 MPs in total, but it is thought 18 of them dissented during the first vote.

No chancellor candidate has lost a Bundestag vote in the 76 years since democracy was restored in Germany in 1949, and there was a prevailing mood of confusion in parliament in the hours after the vote.

Under Germany's constitution, there is no limit to how many votes can be held but in practice another defeat for Merz would have meant a headache for his Christian Democrats, its sister party the Christian Social Union and their partner the Social Democrats.

The result meant a total debacle had been averted, declared one German news website.

Merz, 69, was then sworn in as chancellor by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and his team of 17 ministers were due to take office.

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner had originally been planning a follow-up vote on Wednesday, but Christian Democrat General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said it was important to press ahead.

"Europe needs a strong Germany, that's why we can't wait for days," he told German TV.

Parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn appealed to his colleagues' sense of responsibility: "All of Europe, perhaps the whole world, is watching this ballot."

Merz's defeat had been seen by political commentators as a humiliation, possibly inflicted by a handful of disaffected members of the Social Democrat SPD, which signed a coalition deal with his conservatives on Monday.

The Bundestag president told MPs that nine of the 630 MPs had been absent for the first vote while three had abstained and another ballot paper had been declared invalid.

Germany's new Europe Minister, Gunther Krichbaum, told the BBC that some MPs may have hoped for a ministerial or state secretary role and had their hopes dashed. He also pointed out that some young Social Democrats had publicly said they were not convinced by Merz.

However, SPD officials were adamant their party was fully committed to the coalition deal.

"It was a secret vote so nobody knows," senior Social Democrat MP Ralf Stegner told the BBC, "but I can tell you I don't have the slightest impression that our parliamentary group wouldn't have known our responsibility."

Gunther Krichbaum, a conservative, said the clear message was that "now we are today in the situation to create a stable government" to tackle Germany's big issues, including migration and the economy.

Far-right party Alternative for Germany, which came second in the February election with 20.8% of the vote, seized on Merz's initial failure and called for fresh elections.

Joint leader Alice Weidel wrote on X that the vote showed "the weak foundation on which the small coalition has been built between the [conservatives] and SPD, which was rejected by voters".

Merz's choice for foreign minister, Christian Democrat colleague Johann Wadephul, told the BBC the initial vote was "an obstacle but not a catastrophe".

Germany's handover of government is carefully choreographed. On the eve of Tuesday's vote, outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz was treated to a traditional Grand Tattoo by an armed forces orchestra.

Merz had then been expected to sail through the initial vote on Tuesday morning, fulfilling a long-held ambition to become German chancellor.

His rival and former chancellor Angela Merkel had come to the Bundestag to watch the vote take place. She was not present for the second vote.

Among the first international leaders to congratulate Germany's conservative leader was Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, who hoped that Germany would "grow even stronger and that we'll see more German leadership in European and transatlantic affairs".

Political correspondents in the Bundestag said Merz's initial shock result indicated there was a potential issue lurking within its ranks.

AfD MP Bernd Baumann said the CDU had promised a string of policies similar to his own party's, such as limiting migration, and had then gone into an alliance with the centre left: "That doesn't work. That's not how democracy works."

"This isn't good," warned Green politician Katrin Göring-Eckardt. "Even though I don't want this chancellor or support him, I can only warn everyone not to rejoice in chaos."

Barely 24 hours earlier, the messaging from Merz had been very different, of a new, stable government bringing six months of political paralysis to an end.

"It's our historical duty to make this government a success," he had said as he signed the coalition document on Monday.

Despite having a narrow majority of 12 seats, the agreement between the conservatives and centre left was seen as far more secure than the so-called traffic-light coalition of three parties that fell apart last November in a row over debt spending.

The SPD, which had been the biggest party in the old coalition slumped to its worst post-war election result in third place, but Merz had promised that Germany was back and that he would boost its voice on the world stage and revive a flagging economy.

After two years of recession, Europe's largest economy grew in the first three months of 2025. However economists have warned of potential risks to German exports because of US-imposed tariffs.

Germany's services sector contracted last month because of weaker demand and lower consumer spending.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgp22zlrgko

Leading commercial bank and Africa’s most agile company, Sterling Bank, has announced the introduction of AlwaysOn by Sterling, a bold new feature on its OneBank platform that will give eligible customers up to N1 million extra every month -even when their account balances are running low.

Launched on Workers’ Day 2025, the initiative is part of an ongoing movement to remove structural barriers to financial freedom and empower everyday Nigerians to move boldly, even in uncertain times.

AlwaysOn is a specialised, invitation-only feature for customers who maintain an active OneBank account for a while. It provides an advance to settle bills or make payments without delays, or any of the friction associated with traditional credit systems.

“This is not just about funds,” said Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank. “It’s about freedom and dignity. It’s about backing our customers with the trust and tools to act boldly when life demands it.”

Suleiman emphasised that the new feature is not a product but a logical shift in how the bank supports its customers.

“We’re building a financial ecosystem designed for momentum for people with grit, urgency, and dreams too big to wait. If you’ve banked with us, you’ve earned our confidence. Now you’ll have our backing to match,” Suleiman added.

According to him, the introduction of AlwaysOn marks the next chapter in Sterling’s growing movement to create a fairer and more responsive financial system. It follows the Zero Transfer Fees initiative in April, which returned an estimated N13 billion to Nigerians by eliminating transfer charges across the OneBank platform.

Source: https://guardian.ng/news/sterling-bank-to-give-customers-extra-n1m-monthly/

One of the many factors to consider when purchasing a new mobile phone is the battery life. The reason is clear – no one wants to charge their mobile phone two or three times daily. A strong and durable battery life enable mobile users to use their mobile phones for as long as they want without having to fear of a battery drainage.

However, there has not been too many progress on the side of mobile phones companies as they tend to focus on other specs. of a mobile phone such as processors, screen quality, camera, storage and many others.

In the same vein, there are a couple of mobile phones which have a 6000mAh battery life, as opposed to a 5000mAh which was long in circulation, and still in some mobile phones. While these mobile phones have 6000mAh battery lives, they sometimes do not totally translate to an utmost durability because of other factors that are responsible to draining battery lives.

Yet, they are still an edge over 5000mAh.

Below are ten (10) phones with a 6000mAh battery life:

1. Motorola Edge 60 Pro

On Wednesday, the Motorola Edge 60 Pro was introduced in India. The 50-megapixel primary sensor is the focal point of the Motorola Edge 60 Pro’s triple rear camera arrangement. A 6,000mAh battery that supports wired, wireless, and reverse charging powers the Motorola Edge 60 Pro.

2. OPPO F29 Pro

When searching for a 6000mAh handset, the OPPO F29 Pro is a good buy. It uses a single-cell battery with a rated capacity of 5840mAh/22.90Wh and a typical capacity of 6000mAh/23.52Wh.

3. Samsung Galaxy M35

The Samsung Galaxy M35 5G might be the solution if you’re looking for a gadget that satisfies all of your requirements, including dependable performance, excellent battery life, and 5G connectivity.

4. Vivo X200 Ultra

You simply must try the Vivo X200 Pro, which has a 6000mAh battery, a 3nm dimensity 9400 chip, and a 200MP ZEISS camera. All of these are made to withstand harsh environments and provide the lively experiences you’ve always wanted from your smartphone.

5. Itel Power 70

Itel Power 70 has powered Itel into the biggest highlights of mobile phones when it was announced in March, 2025. The phone is equipped with a 6000mAh battery and runs Android 14. A Mediatek Helio G50 Ultimate octa-core processor powers the phone.

6. OPPO Reno 14

Set to be announced by May, it appears that Oppo is improving upon rather than completely changing its appearance, given how much the design resembles that of the Reno 13 Pro. However, all indications are pointing to the device being with a 6000mAh battery life.

7. TECNO Pouvoir 3 Plus

As a mobile phone user, you would never want to enjoy the limitless battery life that the massive 6000mah battery and the amoled screen provide.

8. Gionee M6s Plus

The Gionee M6 Plus battery is the ideal high-quality replacement battery that was created especially for your phone to address issues like rapid battery drain and short backup times. You can even increase the usage time by carrying an extra standby battery.

9. Galaxy M34

The Samsung Galaxy M34 is a mid-range smartphone from the Samsung M Series. The phone features a 6.50-inch touchscreen display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, 1080×2400 pixel resolution (FHD+), and a 6000mAh battery.

10. Samsung Galaxy F1

With a 6000 mAh battery that supports 25 W fast charging, this smartphone is a really nice one. It can last up to two days on a single charge, allowing you to binge-watch all night.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/05/10-phones-with-6000mah-battery-life/

It is often said that luxury is a necessity for those who can afford it.

The reason is simple – smartphone companies keep producing exquisite, cutting-edge, luxurious gadgets that possess some technological innovations that are not present in other gadgets. Hence, the huge prices that they come with.

There are a couple of smartphones that are way over a million naira. And they are not just expensive, they are the best smartphones that one can think of.

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: A strong smartphone with amazing features and specs, this gadget is ideal for multitasking and keeping all of your favorite files and apps because it has an octa-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. You can take beautiful pictures and videos with the 50MP camera resolution. Staying in touch with loved ones is made simple by the connectivity features including USB Type-C, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Glonass, NFC, GPS and Galileo.

Its initial price was N1,490,000,00.

iPhone 16 Pro Max

Announced on September 9, 2024, and released on September 20, 2024, you will undoubtedly have the greatest digital life you have ever imagined with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It has a large 6.9-inch screen, a super quick processor, better wide and ultra-wide cameras, Wi-Fi 7 compatibility, bigger batteries and iOS 18 (the operating system) pre-installed.

The starting price was N2,299,000.00.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

This gadget is an embodiment of glitz. It just feels like a heaven in one’s palm. With its ability to fold into a pocket-sized marvel, it is a spectacular statement piece. With the Android 14 operating system, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offers you access to all the newest features and security patches. In addition, there is a 50MP + 12MP rear camera, a 10MP front camera, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a 4000 mAh Li-Po rechargeable 25W battery.

Upon its unveiling, the price was N1,550,000.00.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Another invention by Samsung, this device offers quick and effective performance with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and Android 14 with One UI 6.1. For excellent pictures and videos, it has a gorgeous 200 MP rear camera and a 12 MP front camera. With 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage, it handles multitasking and huge files with ease.
It also possesses an immersive viewing experience with its 6.8-inch display and lightning-fast connectivity is guaranteed by its 5G capability. It is a strong and dependable option for both regular and expert users because it enables dual SIM usage (one physical SIM and one e-SIM) and is powered by a 5000 mAh non-removable battery with 45W rapid charging.

The price at its launch was N2 million.

OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open is also a foldable smartphone. Its 6.4-inch outer display and 7.6-inch AMOLED inner display make it multipurpose whether folded or unfurled, and the Hasselblad camera system improves photography. Compared to other foldables, the OnePlus Open is lightweight and thin, and its multitasking features make it ideal for both work and play.

The initial cost was N2 million.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/05/5-phones-over-n1million-in-nigeria/