Nigeria’s farmer financing challenge is often framed as a funding problem. That framing is not entirely wrong. There is still a clear funding gap in agriculture, especially if the country is to sustain productivity gains, expand cultivated land, and keep pace with a growing population.However,funding alone will not deliver lasting results unless it is matched with better design,smarter execution, and stronger accountability. Nigeria is blessed with over 80 million hectares of arable land, yet less than half is consistently cultivated. Agriculture contributes about 25 percent of GDP and employs more than one third of the workforce, yet yields per hectare…
Author: Development Reporting
The Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ibadan, has expressed deep sorrow over the death of renowned scholar and pioneer President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Biodun Jeyifo, a professor. In a press statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its Director, Ṣọlá Ọlọ́runyọmí, a professor, the Institute described the late Mr Jeyifo as a towering figure in African and global intellectual life, whose contributions to scholarship, radical thought and academic unionism left an enduring legacy. Mr Jeyifo, who was born on 5 January 1946, died yesterday, 11 February at the age of 80. Exhibition, condolence…
A Nigerian scholar and Vice Chancellor of Caleb University, Olalekan Asikhia, has proposed a new evidence-based framework for navigating and unlocking economic potential amid deepening global uncertainty. Mr Asikhia, a professor, presented the model while delivering a keynote address titled “Navigating and Unlocking the Economic Potential in an Unstable Economy: A Framework for Survival, Sustainability, and Scrutiny” at Crawford University, Ogun State. He described the current global environment as a “new abnormal”, marked by overlapping geopolitical, financial, technological and climate-related shocks. “These forces must be scientifically understood rather than intuitively managed,” he said. Rethinking organisational strategy Addressing academics, policymakers and industry leaders,…
More African courts are joining the fight against female genital mutilation, playing a bigger role in efforts to challenge a practice long shielded by silence and impunity. A recent report from Equality Now documents legal victories that are reshaping accountability across the continent. Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Breaking a culture of silence In Bomi County, Liberia, Ruth Peal did something almost unheard of in her community. She sought justice after forcibly being subjected to undergo female circumcision. Rather than adhere to the culture of silence that perpetuates the practice, recognised as female genital mutilation, (FGM), she pursued legal channels…
By Mohammed Taoheed Nigeria can meet its three million barrels per day (3mbpd) oil production target by 2030 if oil producers and contractors adopt deliberate, phase-by-phase strategic communication, an energy communication researcher, Adeola Yusuf, has said. Mr Yusuf made the case during a plenary session at the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) 2026, where he called on Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu to demand clear communication plans from operators responsible for delivering the production target. The session was attended by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Patience Oyekunle;…
By Mariam Alabi The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Oliver Alawuba, has urged leaders and key stakeholders in the South-East to place security and peace, infrastructure development and the delivery of bankable, investment-ready projects at the centre of the region’s development drive. He said these priorities are critical to unlocking the South-East’s long-term development agenda under the South-East Vision 2050 (S8V2050), warning that vision statements alone will not attract the investment needed to transform the region. Mr Alawuba made the call on Wednesday while delivering a goodwill remark at the South-East…
Samson Ademola The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has urged young Nigerians to ground their ambitions in history and dialogue across generations, warning that a nation without memory risks losing its direction. Mr Kukah made the call on Saturday, 7 February, while delivering a lecture at the 10th convocation ceremony of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), where 7,684 students were awarded degrees, certificates and diplomas. Framing his lecture around what he described as “intergenerational dialogue”, Mr Kukah argued that greatness is not achieved by abandoning the past, but by understanding it critically and building upon it.…
By Samson Ademola The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Abayomi Fasina, a professor, has described his five-year stewardship as a period shaped by trials, faith, institutional discipline and hard choices, saying leadership tested him, but God sustained him through the journey. Mr Fasina said this while delivering his valedictory lecture, a public accounting of leadership of the institution for five years, beginning from 2021. “I passed through the proverbial needle’s eye, indeed through fire, to arrive at this point. This has not been by my own power, but by the fulfilment of God’s will, manifested through those…
When the shield turns predator, trust is the first casualty. Nigeria’s security forces, meant to be the country’s armour, are now seen as a source of fear. The uniform, once a symbol of safety, now signals danger. The social contract is broken, and citizens are left wondering who is watching their backs. The protectors have become the predators, leaving a trail of trauma and mistrust in their wake. The Lekki Toll Gate shooting, the #EndSARS protests, and countless other incidents have etched a painful reality, those meant to safeguard are sometimes the ones causing harm. Citizens are trapped in a…
By Samson Ademola The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Olusegun Alebiosu; the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Victor Ndoma-Egba, and other dignitaries have commended the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the institution, Abayomi Fasina, a professor, for documenting his five-year stewardship in a new book. They spoke on Wednesday in Oye-Ekiti at the public presentation of Mr Fasina’s book, ‘Holding the Rudder: My Years Steering FUOYE’, which chronicles his tenure as the fourth substantive vice-chancellor of the university between 2021 and 2026. Mr Alebiosu, who served as chief launcher at the…