By Adejumo Kabir Adeniyi and Dr Ola Bello The safe return of 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members abducted along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Imo State, South-South is welcome news for their families and the country. But their release after seven days in captivity should not end the conversation. The graduates were travelling from Ibadan to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states when gunmen attacked the two buses near Umunoha in Imo State on October 1. They were among passengers taken into captivity as the attackers disappeared into the surrounding bush. After a week of…
Author: Development Reporting
Solid’Africa began with friends cooking for patients who had no food. It now produces thousands of meals, supports specialised hospital diets and buys produce from smallholder farmers as it works towards reaching every public hospital in Rwanda. By Solange Ayanone, bird story agency When Nyandwi Zabulon could find a little money for food, he bought a single piece of bread and divided it into four. One portion was for his child, who was undergoing cancer treatment, and another was for him. The rest had to last. Mr Zabulon had spent four months at a hospital far from his family, without…
By Mariam Alabi Former Head of the National Office (HNO) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in Nigeria, Amos Dangut, has assumed office as the council’s Registrar and Chief Executive Officer for a five-year term. Mr Dangut, who assumed office yesterday, 1 October, succeeds Pateh Bah of The Gambia and will serve until September 2031. His appointment was ratified by WAEC’s International Governing Board, known as the Council, at its 74th Annual Meeting held in Accra, Ghana, in March 2026. Mr Dangut joined WAEC in 1998 and has held several positions spanning test development, examination security, test administration and…
The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has launched a Student Share Grant Initiative aimed at promoting financial literacy, responsible investing and long-term asset ownership among young Nigerians. Recall that Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) opened its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on 14 September, in a share sale expected to raise up to ₦2.15 trillion, or about $1.6 billion, potentially making it Africa’s largest IPO. The company is offering 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 each, with the offer closing on 13 October, while trading on the Nigerian Exchange is expected to begin in November. The new initiative is open to students…
Africa’s gaming market is growing almost twice as fast as the global industry, while studios, payment systems and competitive events are beginning to build the infrastructure around its rapidly expanding player base. Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Africa’s gaming industry is shifting from a story about how many people play games to one about how much of the industry can be built around those players. The change is being driven by faster market growth, new payment infrastructure, growing game development capacity and an expanding calendar of competitive events across the continent. Data from Carry1st and Newzoo puts Africa’s gaming market…
Nigeria’s licensing system should make it harder to win acreage without the capacity to develop it. But there is a line the country must not cross: requirements designed to screen out unserious bidders should not become so costly or uncertain that capable investors decide to stay away. That balance matters in a market competing for limited capital. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment 2025 estimates that energy investment in Africa is one-third lower in 2025 than it was in 2015. That figure covers the wider energy sector, not Nigerian upstream projects alone. Still, it is a useful reminder that investors…
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; business leader and philanthropist, Folorunso Alakija; and former Ekiti State first lady, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, are among prominent figures expected to headline the 10th Voice of Women Conference and Awards in Lagos. The anniversary edition, scheduled for 6 October at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, will bring together women leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, young women, grassroots advocates and five female political aspirants ahead of the 2027 elections. Organised by the Voice of Women Empowerment Foundation (VOWEF) in partnership with Women Radio WFM 91.7 and themed “A Decade of Voices and Impact,” the…
The Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo campus, was agog on 18 August as thousands of graduating students, their families, friends and well-wishers gathered for the university’s 29th and 30th convocation ceremonies for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions While graduates received congratulatory messages, posed for photographs and celebrated the culmination of years of hard work, Ayomide Aboaba, an Accounting graduate, was not among them. Instead, the 23-year-old was at a dialysis centre with his mother and aunties, marking a milestone he had fought for through eight years of kidney disease, recurring medical crises and prolonged hospital admissions. Ayomide should ordinarily…
The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal, with 804,948 candidates, representing 58.67 per cent of those who sat the examination, obtaining five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics. The Council also disclosed that 1,162,118 candidates, representing 84.70 per cent, obtained five credits and above irrespective of their performance in English Language and Mathematics. Speaking at a press briefing in Minna, Niger State, on Thursday, NECO Registrar/Chief Executive, Dantani Wushishi, a professor said the examination was conducted across Nigeria and six foreign countries between 15 June and 23 July. Mr…
More than 23 million Nigerians remain offline as stakeholders across the telecommunications, technology and infrastructure sectors prepare to converge in Lagos for the second edition of the Rural Connectivity Summit to examine the barriers to wider connectivity and explore practical ways to reach underserved communities. Organised by Business Metrics Limited (BML), the Summit will be held on Tuesday, 13 October at Providence Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, under the theme “Rural Inclusion at Scale: Connecting the Next 25 Million Users for Frontier Market Growth.” According to the organisers, key government agencies driving Nigeria’s connectivity and digital inclusion agenda have keyed into the summit,…