Author: Sodiq Mojibola

In Oyo State, the sight of school-aged children hawking during school hours is becoming an increasingly common sight, exposing cracks in the education system. From crowded motor parks to busy streets in Ibadan, the state’s capital city, SODIQ MOJIBOLA reports on the widening gap between education policies and the harsh realities confronting families fighting to survive When 16-year-old Fathia Oladejo was promoted to SS3, it should have marked the final stretch toward finishing her secondary education. However, it marked her entry into street hawking. From crowded motor parks to roadside stalls, Fathia now spends her school hours selling sachet water…

As International Women’s Day (IWD) is marked globally, women are using the moment to amplify their voices, drawing attention to the challenges they face and the changes they hope to see in society. From international organisations and media groups to academics, advocates and community leaders, the voices marking this year’s IWD reflect a wide range of concerns, from access to justice and political inclusion to economic empowerment, information rights and protection from violence among others. Every year on 8 March, the world marks IWD, celebrating the achievements of women while highlighting the inequalities they still face in social, economic and…

A capacity-building workshop organised by DevReporting has brought journalists and researchers together in Lagos to strengthen development reporting on urban challenges and close the long-standing gap between the two professional fields. The workshop, held Thursday at the Arthur Nbanefo Digital Research Centre of the University of Lagos, is part of an urban reporting project supported by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC). Speaking at the event, DevReporting Team Lead, Mojeed Alabi, said the relationship between journalists and researchers has often been strained, with both sides sometimes viewing each other as ego-driven. Mr Alabi said the disconnect has limited journalists’ access…

A DevReporting Editorial Advisor and Co-founder of Women Radio 91.7fm, Toun Sonaiya, has been appointed as the Board Chair of St Ives Communications Ltd, owners of Women Radio. In a statement by the organisation’s Board of Directors, Aramide Alakija-Ajeh was also named the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Women Radio, effective immediately. According to the board of directors, the appointments align with the organisation’s governance standards and advances its strategic objectives. Congratulating Mrs Sonaiya, the board noted that she has been pivotal in driving the Women Radio’s growth and affirming its position as a leading and trusted voice for…

Stakeholders in the Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have urged immediate policy action to forestall future climate incidents, warning that delays in strengthening local infrastructure could expose residents to deeper environmental and economic losses as climate pressures intensify. The call followed the presentation of a climate resilience study by researchers under the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC), who found that existing infrastructure in the council area is inadequate to withstand projected future climate conditions, raising concerns over the community’s unpreparedness for extreme weather events. The findings were revealed during a high-level stakeholder engagement forum convened by the…

The Managing Editor of DevReporting, Christiana Alabi-Akande, has been named the Best Graduating Postgraduate Student in the Mass Communication Department at Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, after securing a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.71 out of a possible 5.0 to earn a Master’s degree. The recognition came as the university conferred degrees on a total of 1,924 students during its 15th convocation ceremony on Wednesday, 18 February, in Lagos. Of this number, 1,625 students completed undergraduate programmes, while 299 completed postgraduate programmes. Mrs Alabi-Akande’s husband, Olutayo Akande, also earned a Master’s degree in Economics during the convocation ceremony. The…

One year after floods triggered a cholera outbreak that killed 29 people, Lagos has recorded no new cases, a turnaround officials of the state attribute to targeted hygiene training for informal food vendors and waste workers. Between April 2025 and February 2026, the state recorded no cholera outbreak following a 12-month emergency intervention that trained more than 450 frontline vendors and waste workers and sensitised over 1,000 residents across eight flood-prone local government areas. The project was implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), with funding from the Government of Japan, in collaboration with the Lagos State Environmental…

Lagos State has launched a household used cooking oil collection initiative designed to unlock a $20 million biofuel market, reduce public health risks and curb environmental pollution, as part of efforts to position the state within the global biofuel supply chain. The initiative, rolled out through collection kiosks across Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) zonal offices, is a collaboration with Ororo Waste Management and Shell Foundation. The launch, held on Thursday at the LASEPA headquarters, brought together environmental regulators, development partners, youth groups, students and waste sector stakeholders, highlighting a shift toward household-level climate action and circular waste management…

As Nigeria intensifies discussions around tax reforms and revenue generation, the launch of ‘Moria’s Scar: Agbekoya Uprising’ has revived historical warnings about the social costs of taxation imposed on economically strained populations. Written by Nigerian author, Bimbo Bakare, the book revisits the Agbekoya uprising of the 1960s, a farmers’ revolt sparked by economic exploitation and unfair taxation using historical fiction to interrogate governance, power and resistance in both past and present-day Nigeria. In June 2025, Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu signed four major tax reform laws including the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service Act…

Each year, the International Day of Education draws attention not only to the value of education, but also to what societies lose when it fails. In Nigeria, that loss is visible in classrooms emptied by insecurity, communities erased by demolitions and streets filled with children who should be in school learning. From conflict-ravaged villages in the North-East to fragile waterfront settlements in Lagos, education has become both a casualty of insecurity and a mirror of the country’s wider human and social crises. While insecurity denies children safety, poverty limits their choices and weak governance leaves gaps where protection and opportunity…