Author: Sodiq Mojibola

They wake up each day unsure of where their next meal will come from; their wrinkled hands tremble not just from age, but also from hunger and despair, the consequences of poor and unpaid pensions. In this special report, Christiana Alabi-Akande & Sodiq Mojibola, who monitored the protest in Lagos, shared the ugly experiences of the country’s aged generation. For many Nigerian pensioners, retirement is not the peaceful rest they envisioned after decades of service. Instead, it is a daily struggle for survival, with delayed payments, unexplained deductions, and broken promises draining whatever dignity old age should bring. DevReporting gathered…

The founder of Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and publisher of PREMIUM TIMES newspaper, Dapo Olorunyomi, has called on the Nigerian media to strengthen its watchdog, gatekeeping, and agenda-setting roles to safeguard democracy from the corrosive effects of disinformation, populism, and political polarisation. Delivering a lecture titled: “The Democracy–Journalism Interface,” at a virtual event to officially onboard DevReporting’s editorial and technical advisors, Mr Olorunyomi warned that democracy can only thrive when the press is free, independent, and committed to truth, accuracy, and public accountability. “A free and independent press is a vital part of the institutional mix. Its…

Following complaints from Nigerians abroad over difficulties in obtaining the National Identification Number (NIN), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced the completion of a major upgrade to its diaspora enrolment platform to ensure effective service delivery. In a statement signed on Monday by its Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, the commission said the upgrade would provide “a seamless, robust, more secure, efficient and effective NIN service delivery to Nigerians in the diaspora.” Onboarding and training Following the upgrade, NIMC said it had commenced the onboarding of its Diaspora Front-End Partners (FEPs) and conducted intensive training to equip…

Behind every autistic child in Nigeria is a family fighting battles most people never see, with love, pain, hope, and little support. Love meets challenges every day in these homes. Sodiq Mojibola and Fatimah Idera tell their stories. Every morning, Taiwo Adeshola braces herself for another day with her young client, an 11-year-old boy who lives in a world many struggle to understand. As his therapist for over a year, she has learned to read his silence and decode his meltdowns. When Ms Adeshola is around her patient, he behaves well and follows instructions. But as soon as she leaves,…

As Nigerians continue to savour the glory of Super Falcon’s victory at WAFCON and the latest success of D’Tigress at AfroBasket 2025 on Sunday, a review of the road crashes recorded nationwide between April and June 2025 by DevStats has shown that many sportspersons died while on their own journey to stardom.  DevStats, a DevReporting project that focuses on collecting, analysing, and disseminating data on key developmental issues in Nigeria, observed that within the second quarter of 2025, spanning April to June, no fewer than 383 people died in road crashes involving 948 persons, while 426 people sustained varying degrees…

Candidates that sat the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) can now recheck their results via the result checker portal, the West African Examination Council has announced. The Council disclosed this a few hours after releasing the revised results of the WASSCE for school candidates. In a statement posted on its X (formerly twitter) handle, WAEC wrote: “The result portal is up again, candidates can now access, check and recheck their results for the WASSCE (SC), 2025. “Once again, we sincerely apologise for the mishap and appreciate your understanding and support.” WAEC bows to pressure The Head of Nigeria’s Office…

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is facing criticism over the  temporary shutdown of its result checker portal (@waecdirect.org), citing “technical issues” less than 72hours after announcing the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results for school candidates. The Head of Nigeria’s Office (HNO) of WAEC, Amos Dangut, on Monday, 4 August, announced the release of the 2025 WASSCE results for school candidates. He disclosed that out of the 1,969,313 candidates who sat the examination, only 754,545 representing 38.32 per cent secured credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. In a post on its…

The President of ASUU, Chris Piwuna, in this report, said the union is warming up for a comprehensive shutdown of Nigeria’s university campuses, accusing the President Bola Tinubu-led administration of taking the union for granted after its members have endured continued hardship for two years, hoping the promises would be kept. The respite currently being enjoyed across Nigeria’s public university campuses may soon be truncated as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body for university lecturers in the country, threatened a showdown. ASUU said the benefit of the doubt it granted to the administration of President Bola…

Media professionals have raised alarm over the rising use of surveillance technologies to monitor, intimidate, and silence journalists across Africa, calling for bravery, stronger laws, and collective action to defend press freedom. At the 17th annual media lecture organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), themed “Surveillance, Safety and the Silencing of Truth,” media experts drew attention to the rising threats facing press freedom and the shrinking space for civic engagement. The lecture held in commemoration of the 91st birthday of Wole Soyinka, a professor, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in literature and grand patron of WSCIJ, brought…

The 2025 policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions has announced new cut-off marks for admissions into tertiary institutions across Nigeria for the 2025/2026 academic session. At the meeting hosted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), stakeholders agreed that the cut-off mark for universities will be 150, up from 140 last year. For polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education, agriculture colleges, and innovation enterprise institutions (IEIs), the cut-off was set at 100, while colleges of nursing will have a cut-off mark of 140. These decisions were proposed by vice-chancellors, rectors, and provosts present at the meeting and approved by…