By Olabisi Sulaiman & Moryam Bakare The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has announced the opening of entries for the Goodluck Jonathan Freedom of Information (FOI) Awards 2026, which seek to honour journalists advancing transparency and accountability through the effective use of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011. Named after former President Goodluck Jonathan, who signed the FOI Act into law on 28 May 2011, the awards seek to celebrate journalists whose work has strengthened access to information and open governance in Nigeria. Award categories MRA, in a statement announcing the opening of the call, noted that the 2026 edition features…
Author: Development Reporting
On Wednesday in Abuja, the Group Chairman of Heirs Holdings, United Bank for Africa, and Transcorp, Tony Elumelu, advanced his Africapitalism philosophy, noting that the transformations in Africa can only be written in Africa and not in the boardrooms in Beijing, London, or New York. Africa has an estimated population of 1.56 billion, constituting around 18 per cent of the world’s population. And more than 60 per cent of these 1.56 million people are said to be under 30 years old. As the most populous nation on the continent, Nigeria currently has over 200 million people, which is estimated to…
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced the suspension of its 10-day-old warning strike, four days before the two-week deadline was set to expire. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning during an emergency press briefing addressed by the union’s National President, Chris Piwuna, a professor. According to the union, the latest decision was in response to the interventions by eminent Nigerians, including the Committees of the Senate on Tertiary Education and TETFund, and Labour, among others. ASUU also noted that the renegotiation committee led by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Yayale Ahmed,…
On Monday, 13 October, professionals, including university eggheads, tax consultants, quantity surveyors, urban planners, property valuers, and researchers, shared their thoughts on the challenges of housing, population growth, tax remittances, and demolitions in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. To these stakeholders, when a government is accountable, responsible, and responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of citizens, paying relevant taxes by these citizens may not be difficult. The event was a workshop organised by the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos, featuring the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), an organisation focused on improving urban policy and practice in select African cities. Themed:…
Police in Ekiti State on Monday arrested some leaders of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) chapter, over alleged threat of violence against the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Abayomi Fasina, a professor. But the police authorities have denied that the union leaders were arrested, saying they were only invited and have since been freed. This is as the vice-chancellor has denied involvement in the matter, saying he never gave any instruction to anyone to author any petition, and that he immediately intervened and pleaded for their release when he heard of the matter. However, SSANU officials…
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged its members nationwide to remain steadfast with the union during the ongoing industrial action, stating that progress is being made. This is as the union also informed its members that the government representatives on the renegotiation committee, led by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Yayale Ahmed, have “returned to the negotiation table with a documented response to our demands and made some offers to the union.” But the union ignored the invocation of the “no work, no pay” policy by the Nigerian government, even as the…
Parents, teachers, and nutritionists say Zambia’s national school meals programme has made a remarkable impact, boosting children’s health and school attendance while creating jobs and attracting new partners. Yet, as Zambia’s story unfolds with promise, it serves as a quiet reminder to Nigeria, where a similar initiative has been suspended for more than a year. By Annie Zulu, bird story agency and DevReporting A morning without breakfast At 5:30 a.m. in Lusaka’s Matero township, 13-year-old Christine Zimba was already awake, putting on her school uniform in the dim morning light. Her mother, Judith Sichone, quietly swept around their home. There…
The Young Adult Literature Prize (YALP) 2025 has unveiled its regional finalists from a pool of 106 entries, with E. R. Umukoro’s thought-provoking novel The Distortion of Hadassah emerging as the South South regional finalist.
In response to what it described as outdated and overly stringent entry requirements into the nation’s tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, the Nigerian government released a new policy on Tuesday that lowers the admission requirements for tertiary institutions. According to a statement issued by the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), signed by its Director of Press, Folasade Boriowo, the new policy aims to increase access to tertiary education for more admission seekers than the nation’s institutions currently accommodate. However, this is coming at a time when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), body of lecturers…
In many Nigerian homes, kitchens are quiet, as empty gas cylinders sit unused and the usual sound of burners has been replaced by the crackle of charcoal and the smoke of firewood due to the labour dispute between Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the management of Dangote Refinery. From Lagos to Kaduna, what began as a brief supply disruption has spiralled into a nationwide crisis. As the shortage of cooking gas worsens, prices continue to rise in major cities, and queues now snake around gas stations as residents jostle for refills, some paying bribes…