Governments often lionise those they choose, but history reserves its own place for those it recognises as true heroes. For anyone who followed the social and political movements of the 1980s and 1990s, and the long struggle for the revalidation of June 12, two names remain impossible to ignore: Glory Kilanko and Chom Bagu, who earned the epithet General during the halcyon years of the June 12 struggles. There are names that enter public records through appointments, titles, and ceremonial recognition. There are others that survive because they were written into difficult moments when fear carried official authority and resistance…
Author: Development Reporting
As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) battles a worsening Ebola outbreak that has infected 710 people and claimed 149 lives, the Lagos State Government has launched a statewide public awareness campaign aimed at preventing the importation of the deadly disease into Nigeria. The campaign, tagged “Operation Lagos BioShield”, comes amid growing concerns over the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in parts of East and Central Africa, where health authorities are struggling to contain an outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus. Government data from the DRC shows that the country had recorded 710 confirmed…
By: Titilope Fadare [ABUJA, SciDev.Net] – When Mutiat Ibrahim, a pharmacognosy researcher at the University of Lagos, began surveying traditional medicine practitioners across Nigeria, she was cataloguing something many in formal medicine had long dismissed—the use of herbal rings and waist beads as contraceptives. Unplanned pregnancies are a critical public health issue in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. The rate of unintended pregnancies ranges from 23 to 92 per cent in the most vulnerable communities, according to studies. Ibrahim’s early findings, spanning four Nigerian states, prompted her to look further into whether plant-based ‘contraceptives’, which many rural communities rely on,…
BP’s recent decision to eliminate its standalone Low Carbon Energy division and reorganise around upstream and downstream hydrocarbons is more than a corporate restructuring. It is one of the clearest signals yet that the assumptions underpinning the global energy transition are being reassessed. For much of the past decade, BP positioned itself as the oil major most determined to reinvent itself. Under its previous leadership, the company sought to transform from a traditional oil and gas producer into an integrated energy company, reducing emphasis on hydrocarbons while expanding investments in renewable energy and other low-carbon businesses. Today, that strategy is…
The challenge confronting the PRP and LP is not merely organisational, it is philosophical. Political parties derive coherence from the relationship between their stated principles and their practical activities. When parties cease to recruit, educate and mobilise citizens around ideological commitments, they become susceptible to capture by individuals whose primary objectives are electoral rather than transformational. Several factors explain this process of bourgeoisification. The first is the enormous cost of political participation in Nigeria. Electoral competition requires substantial financial resources. Campaigns, party administration, media engagement and grassroots mobilisation demand funding beyond the capacity of many ordinary citizens. Consequently, wealthy individuals…
The history of political parties in Nigeria is, in many respects, a history of the contest between ideology, opportunism, and vagrancy. From the anti-colonial struggles of the 1940s and 1950s to the contemporary democratic era, parties have emerged not merely as electoral machines but as vehicles for competing visions of society. Some sought to preserve existing structures of privilege; others aspired to transform them. Still, one of the most striking developments in contemporary Nigerian politics is the gradual bourgeoisification of parties that once claimed radical, socialist or populist, or social democratic leaning. Parties founded to represent workers, peasants, artisans, rural…
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has attributed the recent delayed conduct of some papers in the ongoing 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates to a fatal road accident involving staff, logistics disruptions, and security challenges. The clarification follows reports that candidates in parts of Southwestern Nigeria were kept at examination centres until late hours, with some papers, including Mathematics and Agricultural Science, starting several hours behind schedule. Parents, school owners, and education stakeholders had expressed concern that the situation exposed students to insecurity risks, especially in areas already grappling with heightened security tensions. In a…
In commemoration of the 2026 World Environmental Day (WED), stakeholders in Lagos State have reiterated the need for collective action to tackle environmental degradation, promote sustainable practices and safeguard the future of coming generations. The Lagos State Government and the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation made the call in separate activities marking the day, emphasising environmental responsibility, sustainability and community participation. World Environment Day, coordinated annually by the United Nations, serves as a global platform for raising awareness and encouraging action on environmental issues. The theme for this year’s commemoration, “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future,” highlights the urgency of…
Hit by soaring diesel prices and crushing operational costs, waste contractors in many parts of Lagos are struggling to sustain weekly collections, pushing frustrated residents to turn major roads into illegal dumpsites. By Folashade Ogunrinde Flies hover around heaps of rotting waste a few metres from Christian Mbalisigwe’s point-of-sale (POS) stand at the Jakande roundabout in Ejigbo, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area in Lagos State. As buses slow to pick up passengers along the busy road, commuters cover their noses while others step around food waste, black nylon bags and dirty water trickling from piles of refuse in the centre of…
Candidates sitting the ongoing 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) across some Southwestern states in Nigeria were held at their examination centres until late at night on Thursday. This is coming at a time when threats of insecurity, especially around school environments, have become rife, particularly following the 15 May violent abduction of 46 students and seven teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. A similar case of mass abduction of students across some schools was also reported in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria, on the same day, 15 May. Various government authorities and the West African…