Author: Sodiq Mojibola

Adebanjo Oluolamide, LASU’s best graduating student for 2025/2026, received ₦10m from the Sunbeth Excellence Partnership Programme before Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced another ₦20m at the university’s convocation. A 4.97 Cumulative Grade Point Average  (CGPA) out of a possible 5.00 has earned a Lagos State University (LASU) graduate, Adebanjo Oluolamide, ₦30 million in two cash awards. Oluolamide, who graduated with First-Class Honours in Aerospace Engineering, was named LASU’s overall best graduating student for the 2025/2026 academic session. His financial reward began during the university’s 29th and 30th combined convocation held on Monday at the Olatunji Bello Auditorium, Epe Campus where he…

Technology alone will not close Nigeria’s healthcare gaps, health innovators said at MedVerge on Saturday, as they called for stronger collaboration, wider health insurance coverage and investment in locally relevant data. The event, organised by HelpMum, Dobic Health and SmartMRS in Lagos, featured solutions aimed at improving maternal health information, pharmacy access, electronic medical records and health services for people who remain outside the formal healthcare system. Innovators call for stronger collaboration The convener of MedVerge and founder/CEO of HelpMum, Dobic Health and SmartMRS, Abiodun Adereni, said stronger collaboration was needed across the health ecosystem. “I think people are not…

At about 11 p.m. on a Lagos Island highway, Ibukun Tunde-Oni, a medical doctor, was involved in an accident that would expose the fragility of emergency healthcare in Nigeria. Despite being a doctor, he waited by the roadside for about three hours before an ambulance arrived. By then, it was about 2 a.m. and the ambulance drivers asked him where they should take him. Mr Tunde-Oni had suffered a cracked skull and urgently needed imaging. The accident also claimed the life of someone close to him. The experience, he said, reinforced his decision to develop technology that could help Nigerians…

Hundreds of people living with Parkinson’s disease, alongside caregivers, health professionals and advocates, took to the streets around the National Stadium in Lagos on Saturday for an awareness walk, demanding greater recognition, affordable treatment, stronger government support and an end to the stigma surrounding the condition. The two-kilometre walk was organised by the Adewunmi Desalu Parkinson’s Foundation (ADPF) as part of the fifth Move for Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Walk. Under the theme, “No One Walks Alone: Courage in Every Step”, participants carried placards bearing messages including “Stop the Stigma”, “Unity in Motion: Raising Parkinson’s Awareness” and “Join the Journey, Conquer…

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the state government is willing to provide grants to young innovators whose ideas offer practical solutions, urging graduates to develop evidence-based innovations capable of delivering measurable impact.  Mr Sanwo-Olu gave the assurance on Sunday while delivering the commencement address at Babcock University’s 24th undergraduate convocation ceremony, where 3,521 students graduated across various disciplines. Of the graduating class, 306 earned First Class honours. He challenged the graduates to pursue innovation over imitation and proficiency over popularity, warning against societal trends that celebrate entertainment at the expense of expertise. “If you choose to innovate…

DevReporting on Thursday trained 23 journalists from across Osun State, equipping them with practical tools to investigate governance and accountability issues, refine story ideas, and produce compelling, evidence-based, human-centred reports. The Local Governance Reporting Project is being implemented by DevReporting in partnership with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) through its Local Media Sustainability Fund (LMSF), with support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy. The journalists emerged from a competitive selection process that attracted 62 applications from across Osun State. Of the applicants, 53 (85.5 per cent) were male while nine (14.5 per cent) were female. The training, which…

Ahead of the rollout of the National Textbook Ranking System in September, the Federal Government has reduced the cost of assessing and ranking school textbooks following sustained pressure from publishers and education advocates. According to the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), the assessment fee has been reduced by 25 per cent, from ₦2,000 to ₦1,500 per page, while the ranking fee has also been cut by 25 per cent, from ₦1 million to ₦750,000 per textbook title. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the council said the review was intended to ease the financial burden on publishers and…

A new partnership between the Nigerian Indigenous Women in Mining and Natural Resource Organisation (NIWIMNRO) and the Africans for Africa (AFA) Initiative is set to promote gender-inclusive mining, formalise women miners and expand community development across Nigeria’s extractive sector. The two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS) 2026, establishing a strategic collaboration aimed at ensuring that mining investments deliver wider social and economic benefits to local communities. The agreement seeks to make mining investments more socially responsible and gender-responsive while strengthening sustainable development in mining host communities through greater…

Tooth decay is a common condition among children in Nigeria, yet widely overlooked and misunderstood. Despite being preventable, many parents remain unaware of the everyday habits that put their children’s dental health at risk. Experts warn that sugary diets, inadequate brushing techniques, and a lack of fluoride are among the major causes of tooth decay in children. According to a 2022 Health Watch report on World Oral Health Day, approximately 6-23 per cent of Nigerians suffer from tooth decay, with 90 per cent cases left untreated. Additionally, 15-58 per cent of individuals aged 15 and above are affected by gum…

A Lagos State University (LASU) 300-level Mass Communication student, Fajana Mary, has won top prize at a fiercely contested environmental debate after arguing that Lagos State should not wait for the federal intervention to tackle its pollution challenges. Mary emphasised that Lagos state possesses both the authority and capacity to tackle transboundary pollution. The debate formed part of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency’s (LASEPA) 2026 Inter-Tertiary Institutions Environmental Summit 2.0, which brought together six finalists from universities across the state to examine whether tackling transboundary pollution requires city-level action or national intervention. The motion before the students was: “Combating…