₦airaland Forum

Japan has denied plans to create a special visa category for Nigerians who wish to relocate to Kisarazu, a city it recently designated as “hometown” for Nigeria.

During the 9th Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9) last week in Yokohama, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced the launch of the ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ to strengthen exchanges between African countries and Japanese local governments.
JICA designated four cities to four African countries.

Kisarazu was named as Nigeria’s hometown; Nagai as the hometown of Tanzania; Sanjo was matched to Ghana; and Imabari as the hometown of Mozambique.
A statement signed by Abiodun Oladunjoye, director of information at the State House, had said the Japanese government would create “a special visa category for highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians who want to move to Kisarazu to live and work”.

“Artisans and other blue-collar workers from Nigeria who are ready to upskill will also benefit from the special dispensation visa to work in Japan,” the statement dated August 22 added.

The development was widely reported locally and internationally.

But in a statement on Monday, the Japanese foreign ministry denied such plans.

It confirmed that the “JICA Africa Hometown” programme plans to promote exchanges between the four Japanese cities and the four African countries through various activities, including the organisation of exchange events involving JICA overseas cooperation volunteers”.

“On the other hand, there are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries, and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true,” the statement added.

The Japanese foreign ministry said it would continue to ensure that appropriate statements regarding the matter are meted out.

Kastonkastroll:
Omo the same agrochemicals like dressforce, agric force, xforce, zforce, seedcare,etc I also sell. The funny thing is you will see people that will justify this brazen looting. These agrochemicals are mostly produced in kano state and a carton of the most expensive one won't be up to 150,000 and someone is allocating 20million for just a carton. The most expensive agrochemicals is the watery supplement, it usually come in dozens and am not sure it will cost 200000.

With 50million you can get a trailer of these agrochemicals from kano and if you are even buying as a wholesaler you normally get discount.

And we are even talking about Borno state. How many people are still farming there with all the boko haram stuffs happening there?

Kai kabiru; fear God ooh

Peakdesign23:
Good day my fellow nairalanders, can you swallow eba in the morning? Yes or No?

The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to media reports about a decision of a Canadian Court allegedly declared APC as a terrorist organisation.

We wish to state categorically that the Canadian court did not declare APC as a terrorist organisation, contrary to highly erroneous media reports in circulation.

As reported, the declaration was allegedly made in the case of Douglas Egharevba and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, in which the Applicant (Douglas Egharevba) sought judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Immigration Appeal Division [IAD] which determined that the Applicant was inadmissible in Canada under its Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

In a decision in the matter dated June 17, 2025, Judge Phuong T.V. Ngo dismissed the application for judicial review on the ground that the Applicant was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that the PDP was an organization engaged in acts of subversion pursuant to paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA making him inadmissible in Canada.

In his analysis, the Judge stated, “As such, applying the reasonableness standard of review, I cannot find the IAD’s conclusion that the Elections in question constituted a democratic process or institution and that the PDP, its members and supporters engaged in subversive acts committed against the electoral process for the improper purpose of maintaining political power to be unreasonable.”

To be clear, the only reference to APC in the entire 16-paged decision was in the introductory “Background”, Paragraph 4, where the court referenced a “Background Declaration Form in which the Applicant stated that “he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] of Nigeria from December 1999 until December 2007, and a member of All Progressives Congress [APC] party of Nigeria from December 2007 until May 2017.”

For the record, APC was not in existence as of 2007. The Party was registered in 2013. The Applicant’s claim of membership of APC as of 2007 is evidently false as he could not have been a member of APC that didn’t exist at the time.

For the avoidance of doubt, we make bold to state that the court never made any determination on the question of terrorism in its decision. In the Judge’s own words:

“Having found that the IAD’s analysis on subversion was reasonable, this is sufficient to dismiss the application for review. *I will therefore refrain from anaylyzing the IAD’s findings on terrorism.”*

Clearly, reports that APC was declared as a terrorist organization by the Canadian court in this matter is patently erroneous, if not mischievous.

The court did not make such a declaration, and could not have done so as that would be an unjustifiable overrea[i][/i]ch, and a major breach of fair hearing, among other due process rights, given that APC was not a party to the proceedings. Such a decision would also have been of absolute irrelevance as being made without jurisdiction, and of no extraterritorial applicability or significance.

We urge our Party faithful, supporters and all Nigerians to disregard the reports as false and misleading.

Signed:
*Felix Morka, CON*
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)

The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, led members of the National Working Committee (NWC), and other Party leaders to the final campaign rally in support of the APC candidate for Saturday's Remo (Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North) Federal Constituency bye-election in Ogun State, Princess Sola Elegbeji.

Omooba77:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/08/fuel-consumption-drops-16-to-1-44bn-litres-in-june-2025-nmdpra/

dollytino4real:
Shey! Na who dey enter plane go read dat long sermon!!! Wen we get to dat bridge we go read am but now i go skip

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has assured that clearing of shanties and parks serving as hideouts for criminals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be a continuous exercise.

Last week, men of the FCTA Development Control Department, Security Services, and Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) had cleared some areas identified as major threats to the capital’s security and aesthetic standards. The exercise, which involved removing illicit structures, impounding vehicles, and seizing weapons, is being followed up with mop-up operation to ensure criminal elements do not return.

The FCT Minister's Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, said in a statement on Sunday, that demolition of Jazz and Blues Entertainment at Panorama Recreational Park, Wuse Zone 3, was part of the clean-up exercise.

He said; "the operation was a targeted public safety intervention based on credible intelligence, and not an act of persecution against anyone."

The statement read; "Security agencies, including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Department of State Services (DSS), identified several locations and facilities that serve as a criminal hideouts and safe havens across the Federal Capital City (FCC).

"Notable in these areas were the Banana Green Belt, extending from the Central Mosque area towards
the Zone 3 and Zone 1 of Wuse District, including Area 10 corridor.

"In these areas, innocent citizens are assaulted by assailants who then run to seeks refuge within the surrounding Banana Green Belt/vegetation cover to escape arrest.

"The intelligence obtained and verified through several surveillance and undercover investigations of these locations, amongst which was the Jazz and Blues Entertainment at Panorama Recreational Park, Wuse Zone 3, was that a segment of the park containing shanties and batchers had evidence of sustained criminal activity tied to organized networks operating within the FCT.

"Thus, in accordance with Abuja’s Development Control Regulations and public safety protocols, the FCTA, with other security agencies commenced a city-wide cleanup exercise of all identified criminal hideouts across the FCC on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, so as to remove these criminal hideouts, and restore sanity and security to the FCC. A segment of the Jazz and Blues Entertainment at Panorama Recreational Park, Wuse Zone 3, which housed criminal activities was among the locations visited.

"Contrary to claims of abrupt action, the FCTA Department of Development Control issued several Contravention Notices to the Park’s Management prior to the exercise carried out on the August 6, 2025.

"In February 2024, a formal notice was issued to inform the park operator of the identified infractions. This was followedby three formal notices between October 2024 and June 2025, and a final eviction order dated July 25, 2025.

"However, these Contravention Notices issued by the FCTA were completely ignored.

"For the avoidance of doubts, the FCTA wishes to state that the main facilities/activities within the park (i.e. the football field, its viewing platforms, the Gymnasium area, and several other facilities) were unaffected and remain functional following the removal of these criminal elements from the park.

"While the FCTA acknowledges and respects the military service of Air Commodore Balogun, it reiterates that national service is not a license for any individual to harbour criminal elements/activities, and endanger the general public.

"Not minding any orchestrated media reports, the FCTA will continue with the city-wide cleanup exercise in the coming weeks and this shall be extended to other Districts within the FCC, in order to achieve the administration’s goal of building a city where its residents will be safe to live, work and recreate."

Lere Olayinka
Senior Special Assistant
Public Communications and Social Media
August 10, 2025

A recent editorial by Daily Trust paints an exaggerated and unbalanced portrait of Nigeria as a nation overwhelmed by hunger, hardship, and helplessness. We were not surprised by the newspaper's opinion, as the paper has consistently and deliberately misinformed its readers about the government's policy. The Tinubu administration believes in the right of the media to offer constructive criticism, but it must be anchored on facts, not distortion or selective pessimism. The Daily Trust has on several occasions breached this rule by misrepresenting government policies and actions—a trend for which the newspaper has publicly apologised at least twice.

While no one in the Tinubu administration denies that some of our citizens face economic challenges, it is essential to separate honest concern from exaggerated pessimism and generalisation.

The Tinubu administration is not indifferent to the genuine concerns of the people. The irony is that what is often criticised today are, in fact, the policies that will ensure that Nigerians have a more secure, stable, and prosperous future.

Misrepresentations, selective use of projections, and alarmist narratives do not serve the public good; they distract from the genuine progress underway nationwide.

To suggest, as Daily Trust did in its biased editorial, that "Nigerians are hungry" without recognising the government's ongoing interventions perpetuates despair instead of empowering citizens with the truth.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not indifferent to Nigerians' difficulties. On the contrary, he is taking deliberate, targeted steps—many already yielding results—to reset our economy from a legacy of consumption without productivity, opacity without accountability, and policy that served the powerful, not the people.

This is the context that Daily Trust omitted in its jaundiced editorial.

1. UNICEF Projection vs. Cadre Harmonisé Analysis.

The editorial referenced a UNICEF "prediction" from April 2025 stating that 33 million Nigerians, including 16 million children, would face hunger in 2025. This figure has been widely cited but wrongly interpreted.

What was presented was not a UNICEF-specific report but the Cadre Harmonisé Food and Nutrition Insecurity Analysis, jointly prepared by the Federal Government of Nigeria, FAO, WFP, and UNICEF. It is not a current count, but a worst-case projection for the June–August 2025 lean season, assuming no mitigation actions by government or partners.

Here are some of the measures taken by the government to ensure we never get there: Over 42,000 metric tons of grains were released from federal strategic reserves; 117,000 metric tons were under additional procurement; the President activated the Food Security Council; emergency nutrition support was scaled up in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto, and Bauchi States.

Malnutrition is a serious national concern, but let's not localise it as a "Northern Nigeria" crisis. Since 2020, COVID has disrupted the global food system, worsened the Russia-Ukraine war, and is now aggravated by conflict in the Middle East.

According to the World Bank's April 2025 Food Security Update, over 1.4 billion people worldwide are under food stress, a problem that is not unique to Nigeria.

2. The Naira is Not Worthless — It Has Found Its Level and Is Strengthening

The editorial's use of the term "worthless naira" is false and misleading.

Since hitting a low of ₦1,800/$1 in March 2024, the naira has rebounded strongly due to: Increased oil receipts and remittances, Restoration of investor confidence, Unification of the FX window, Reduction of FX backlog by over $4 billion (CBN data, May 2025)

As of August 1, 2025, the naira traded around ₦1,525/$1, a sizable appreciation since its lowest ebb. Nigeria's FX reserves are stabilising, and foreign portfolio inflows are picking up after major reforms in the monetary and fiscal space.

The naira has not collapsed—it has been corrected and is now recovering.

3. Yes, this administration is listening – And Acting on viable Recommendations, not the ones driven by anger and ambition.

We welcome suggestions such as suspending VAT on food, reducing taxes on drugs and medical equipment, and easing the tax burden on MSMEs. The Federal Ministry of Finance and the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee are working on many of these.

Starting January 2026, the new tax reforms will:

Streamline over 60 overlapping taxes into fewer, manageable channels. Eliminate nuisance taxes that burden small businesses. Create exemptions for essential goods, including some food and medical items. Encourage state-federal tax harmonisation to stop multiple taxation.

Meanwhile, the President works closely with State Governors through the National Economic Council (NEC) to implement immediate local tax reliefs, VAT waivers, and food market stabilisation efforts in each state.

4. Social Protection Measures Are Expanding, Not Fizzling Out

The claim that the school feeding programme has "fizzled out" is inaccurate and false.

The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme serves over 9.8 million children in 53,000 schools across 36 states and the FCT.

Over 200,000 cooks and local farmers are engaged in the programme, which is being digitised for transparency and efficiency. The Federal Government has not abandoned the programme.[/b]p

On the broader safety net, three million vulnerable households have received ₦75,000 each under the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer, with plans to scale up to 15 million households. As of August 7, over 396,000 students now benefit from NELFUND tuition loans and stipends.

[b]The Presidential MSME Grant Scheme has disbursed funds to over 250,000 businesses in 2025, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises despite the outcry on CBN interest rates.

CNG bus rollout and transport palliatives are reducing urban commuting costs

5. Global Food Prices Are Also Driving Local Pain — But Nigeria Is Responding

The facts:

The FAO Food Price Index (June 2025) shows global food prices remain 22% above 2019 levels.

Countries like Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka also struggle with food price inflation. But Nigeria, under President Tinubu, is actively mitigating this global shock, by rolling out the following measures: State of Emergency on Food Security; Invested ₦200 billion in dry-season and all-year farming; Targeted 500,000 farmers for input support in 2025; Launched the National Commodity Board to regulate food price volatility; Introduced transport subsidies to cut logistics costs for food.

6. The administration is Coordinating With States to Alleviate Hardship.

The President is not acting in isolation. Joint State-FG food distribution plans are being implemented through ongoing engagements with State Governors, LGAs, development partners, and civil society. States have received direct cash support and grants for local market stabilisation.
Coordination is ongoing to scale up nutrition interventions, including micronutrient support for women and children.

We also acknowledge that hardship is uneven across regions. However, Nigeria is one country, one people, and the fight against hunger is a collective effort, not a northern, southern, Christian, or Muslim issue.

A Time for Unity, Not Despair

Let's speak the truth. Yes, Nigerians are belt-tightening, but Nigeria is healing. The economic surgery undertaken by President Tinubu is not without pain, but it is yielding green shoots.

To those who ask, "Where is the hope?" We say hope is in the stabilising naira, in three million families lifted by direct transfers, and about 400,000 students now schooling without fear of paying fees. Hope is in the 500,000 farmers sowing into a new food system. Hope is in a government that is finally treating poverty not as a slogan but as a solvable problem.

Only recently, this administration launched an effort to drive grassroots economic growth and poverty reduction across Nigeria, as President Bola Tinubu approved a ward-level development strategy called the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP).


This initiative, which was endorsed by the National Economic Council (NEC) during its 150th meeting, is part of the President's broader Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims for a $1 trillion economy by 2030
Key aspects of the RHWDP include: Targeting all 8,809 wards in Nigeria: The programme is designed to reach every administrative ward, ensuring that no community is left behind in national development efforts.

Focus on key development areas: It aims to serve as a coordinated intervention framework focused on poverty alleviation, food security, rural infrastructure, power supply, and job creation.

Identifying and supporting local economic actors: The program will identify at least 1,000 economically active individuals in each ward and support them in enhancing local manufacturing and business operations. This will generate double-digit growth in most wards as Nigeria progresses towards its $1 trillion economy target.

Several other interventions abound.

This administration does not ask for silence in the face of hardship. It asks only for fairness and a shared commitment to rebuilding this country, not just exaggerating its pain. This is what President Tinubu expects from all Nigerians and well-wishers of our country.

Sunday Dare
Special Adviser to the President
Media & Public Communications
August 7, 2025