If you think there are too many beggars on your street, please take heart. A trending video is showing a massive throng of Nigerian children and women being deported from Ghana where they were found doing street begging. They are said to be part of thousands of West Africans on Ghanaian streets. About 10,000 are said to be involved. Is there anything too shameful that we can’t and won’t export? 

The person who ran the commentary spoke in Hausa, a hint at where the beggars hailed from. I took a few minutes to read the video. I do not speak and do not understand Hausa, but I can read the face of sorrow when I see one. I saw exactly that in the worn-out faces and the sunken eyes of girls and women in that video. For them, living is obviously a punishment. 

It looks like what we see today is generational and a proof that Nigeria failed its people yesterday and today, and will likely do so tomorrow. 

A Ghanaian academic visited Zaria some 50 years ago and wrote of his shock at the swarm of child beggars on the street. His report, published in 1984, reads as if it speaks of today: “The stranger from another cultural milieu visiting Zaria for the first time may, depending on his historical experience, wonder or even be shocked at the sight of so many little children going about begging in the town. But as time passes, and with increasing familiarity with the sight, the critical thoughts which followed the initial shock are likely to give way to a gradual acceptance of the unusual experience as a normal condition.”

The study of the begging population throws up the following statistics: “Nearly half (45.5 %>) of the sample of beggars indicated that their parents were not beggars, for quite a sizable proportion (39.7 %>) both parents could be shown to be themselves beggars like their children. In a few cases, only fathers (6.2 %) or only mothers (2.8 %) of beggars were reported as being beggars as well. In much the same way, in 35.2 % of the cases, brothers and sisters of beggars were reported to be also beggars…” Those beggars of the 1970s and 1980s, where are they today? Could they be the parents of today’s beggars, including those traumatised kids deported from Ghana? 

‘Child Beggars in Nigeria’ is the title of a July 2022 report by Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW). The report starts with the personal tragedy of an 11-year old Amina who was forced to beg on the streets because of insecurity in her village. It then dwells extensively into “how northern Nigeria’s economic crisis is bringing more children to large cities such as Lagos, where they end up asking for money on the streets.”

In February 2022, the newspaper I edit carried the story of some women and children from the North who migrated to Ibadan to make a living for themselves and their families through begging. Nafisa Shehu and her mother were among the beggars found on the Ojoo Bridge. Nafisa sat among other begging children and from that point calmly told the reporter that her dream was to become a medical doctor. Nafisa’s story was published, it went viral, and a school in Ibadan contacted the reporter and offered Nafisa a scholarship from primary to medical school. 

If you thought her dream of becoming a medical doctor was becoming real, you missed it. It never happened. A meeting was arranged between the school and Nafisa’s mother, with the reporter present in Moniya, Ibadan. Some meddlesome interlopers who called themselves local Hausa leaders made sure they were present also. Proceedings were very positive. But the tragedy started from that point: Nafisa and her mother disappeared from the street shortly after the meeting. The only condition the school gave Nafisa was that she would be a full-boarding student. That was a huge problem for her mother who wanted her to beg while in school.

We still thought we could help. I told the reporter not to give up on that girl. And she did not. After several follow-ups, the reporter was told that Nafisa and her mother had travelled back to Katsina State where they came from. Fourteen-year-old Nafisa was being prepared to be married off. She must be a mother somewhere now, and possibly begging. 

So, you can see that shame of deportation from Ghana and harassment elsewhere won’t prevent the begging population from growing. There are rivers feeding the dam; the dam feeds the flood. Until we tackle the source of the disaster, it will continue to question the humanity of Nigeria, particularly northern Nigeria and its leaders. 

The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), established under Section 11 of the National Health Act (NHAct) of 2014, is a foundational pillar of the country’s healthcare system. The Fund was designed to deliver a sustainable, decentralized, and accountable trove of resources for citizens’ healthcare at the community level through a functional PHC system. Passage of the NHAct was expected to usher in new hope for the achievement of Universal Health Care and for expanded National Health Insurance coverage. Despite the efforts and investments of donors, government, and health advocacy civil society NGOs, the early years of the BHCPF have failed to deliver on expectations. Research by the dRPC identifies 12 core donor grants and loans from USAID, the World Bank, the Gates Foundation, and the FCDO aimed at improving the performance of the BHCPF. Fifteen NGOs in the dRPC’s anchored and Gates foundation-funded health advocacy project, PAS, worked tirelessly to monitor, track, and document performance gaps in the Fund’s early days.

Suboptimal, late, and ill-timed releases coupled with inefficient and ineffective use of disbursements were identified as some of the challenges to the Fund’s performance. As of August 2022, only N89 billion of the cumulative sum of N638.64 billion allocated between 2019-2022 was released, and only N56 billion or 63% was actually disbursed to 36 states and the FCT. In 2023, N51.64 billion was allocated and N37.00 billion released.

By 2024, however, change seemed to have come to the BHCPF architecture. Under the supervision of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, allocation to the BHCPF in 2024 increased by 143% from ₦52.6 billion in 2023 to ₦125.7 billion in 2024. This upward trend continued in 2025 with N298.42 billion or a 44% increase in allocation over the previous year, 2024. The story of releases in 2025 is also a good one. For the first 5 months of 2025, the release of ₦32.80 is almost as high as the total amount released in 2023, and more than the total amount allocated for the full year of 2020.

Basic Health Care Provision Fund Allocations and Releases 2014-2025

Sources: State of Health Reports; Budget Office; Official Reports of the FMoH

With increased funding to the BHCPF, PAS NGOs, still active in the space, framed new advocacy messages around the need for decisive action to address the challenge of effective and efficient utilization of funds. The government responded with the launch of the National Health Fellows program to foster sustained improvements within Nigeria’s healthcare system. Response also came with the rollout of the Performance and Financial Management Officers (PFMOs) program. The PFMOs initiative is implemented as part of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative using the SWAp of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare. Consistent with the government’s decentralization logic, PFMOs were recruited through a rigorous selection process. They were then taken through a two-day (May 20-21, 2025), 5-module intensive training program. The training was followed by a week of technical tuition on the use of the PFMO Analytics Platform (PAP), a hand-held device for monitoring, checking, tracking, and surveying the whole value chain of funding flows, procurement procedures, processes, human resources, and systems in BHCPF facilities. From 2nd June 2025, PFMOs are expected to be turning up at BHCPF-supported facilities to capture data and evidence as a first step in an innovative blended model of health accountability, supportive supervision, and technical assistance.

For the PAS NGOs, in the trenches monitoring and advocating for accountability and transparency of the BHCPF for more than five years, the new model of the current government presents an opportunity for achieving the goals of the Fund, which they worked to operationalize in 2019. As PAS advocacy CSOs pass on the baton to the new PFMOs, the Project Directors (PDs) met to review experience and offer words of wisdom and encouragement to the PFMOs:

For Gen Obashina Ogunbiyi, mni rtd, PAS, PD, Lagos; Association of the National Institute Alumni, “The PFMO initiative builds on our many years of advocacy for transparency. Stay resilient, leverage community partnerships, and use data to drive impact.”

For Mr. Sarki Zakari, PAS PD, National, the Association of Community Health Practitioners of Nigeria: “We commend this forward-looking initiative that has recently been put in place. This change will come with challenges, but it will also support us on the frontline in achieving our desired health outcomes.”

For Hajiya Halima Ben Umar, PD, PAS/ Kano, Women in Media: “Be diligent because transparent systems empower communities to demand quality care and ensure no one is left behind.”

For Dr Stanley Ilechukwu, PAS PD, National, the South Saharan Development Organization, “Your role is important, especially as direct foreign investment funds dwindle; efficiency is needed now more than ever to help transition from donor dependency.”

For Alhaji Baba Shehu, PAS PD, Niger, Centre for Communication and Reproductive Health Services: “PMFOs should remember that accountability in health financing is not just a process, it is the foundation for trust and equity in healthcare delivery.”

Alhaji Mustapha Jumare, PAS PD, Kaduna, Initiative for Integrated Grass Root Empowerment and Support: “For effective services at the PHC level, particularly with the BHCPF…, strong capacity building for the PHC staff and management of PHCs is needed for accountability, transparency. Supervision is essential.”

The development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), the Nigerian non-profit which mobilises knowledge on innovations-for-impact and also anchored PAS for 8 years, views this new model of health accountability, supportive supervision and technical assistance as a uniquely Nigerian innovation, with global public health resonance for countries challenged by the need to deliver high quality effective, efficient and responsive primary health services in a context of dwindling public revenue flows.

[DailyTrust]

No fewer than 15 parishes under the Makurdi Catholic Diocese in Benue State have been shut down due to repeated attacks on host communities by suspected armed herders.

The disclosure was made on Sunday by Rev. Fr Joseph Beba, Chairman of the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association, NCDPA, Makurdi Diocese, during a press briefing at the Catholic Cathedral in Makurdi.

Fr Beba said the affected communities, Tse Orbiam, Ahume, Jimba, Nagi-Camp, Aondoana, Yelewata, and Abegana, have witnessed coordinated violence in the past two weeks, resulting in the deaths of over 50 residents, including women and children.

“More than 15 parishes have been shut down because their host communities have been completely displaced. In places like Jimba, Mbalom Yelwata, and Aondoana, both priests and parishioners have fled,” he said.

He alleged that the escalation in violence, particularly in Gwer West Local Government Area, followed the testimony of the Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, Most Rev. Wilfred Anagbe, in the United States and Europe on the persecution of Christians in Benue and Nigeria.

“These attacks are not random. They are a direct response to Bishop Anagbe’s international testimony on the systematic persecution of Christians. The Church is under siege,” Fr Beba declared.

He criticized the Nigerian military for what he described as a lack of response, even when attacks occurred close to their checkpoints.

“We are dismayed by the low energy and response from security forces. The attack on Rev. Fr Solomon Atongo on May 24, 2025, happened just 3km from Naka and less than 500m from an army checkpoint at Tse Orbiam. There was no intervention,” he said.

Fr Beba called on President Bola Tinubu and Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia to declare war on the armed herders, noting that Governor Alia had previously identified the attackers as non-Nigerians.

He also urged youths to be vigilant and defend their communities: “The right to self-defence is inalienable. We call on our young people to be ready to defend their faith, their farmlands, and their way of life.”

[DailyPost]

If your JAMB score falls between 140 and 180, don’t lose hope..You still have a strong chance of gaining admission into a Nigerian university. One of the most strategic moves you can make is to take advantage of the JAMB Change of Institution option.

This option allows you to switch from a university with a high cut-off mark to one with a lower or more flexible cut-off. Many federal and state universities accept students through this route and are known for having high acceptance rates for candidates who make them their new choice during the change of institution process.

Here are some top universities with high acceptance rate for change of institution

1. Federal University, Dutse (FUD) – Located in Jigawa State, FUD is known for its transparency in admission processes and accepts students with scores from 140 and above for certain courses.

2. Federal University, Birnin Kebbi (FUBK) – This institution in Kebbi State is one of the most welcoming federal universities for students seeking admission through the change of institution.

3. Kebbi State University of Science and Technology (KSUSTA) – Offers science and technology-focused programs and often considers candidates with JAMB scores from 140 upward.

4. Sokoto State University (SSU) – Known for accommodating change of institution applicants with relatively low JAMB scores.

5. Taraba State University (TSU) – Offers a wide range of courses and is open to students with scores between 140 and 180.

6. Adamawa State University (ADSU) – Located in Mubi, ADSU has a good track record of accepting candidates via the change of institution window.

7. Bauchi State University (BASU) – BASU is a viable option for students with moderate scores and has consistent admission flexibility.

8. Abia State University – A reputable state university that welcomes a high number of transfer and change of institution students annually.

9. Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU) – A top choice in the South-South region, AKSU offers quality education and accepts many students through change of institution.

Read Also: JAMB: Another Nmesoma breaks UTME record in Anambra school

10. Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH) – Particularly friendly for students in science-related fields with modest JAMB scores.

11. Plateau State University (PLASU) – Based in Bokkos, PLASU offers a wide range of undergraduate programs and is known for being flexible with JAMB scores.

[TheNation]

The All Progressives Grand Alliance has faulted claims by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2025 Anambra governorship election, Nicholas Ukachukwu, that President Bola Tinubu has mandated him to deliver Anambra to the APC.

Ukachukwu, who was hosted to a welcome reception at the Chinua Achebe Airport, Umueri, Anambra State, on Saturday, after his recent visit to President Tinubu, had reportedly made the claims when he told the APC supporters that the President had mandated him to connect Anambra to the centre.

He also used the reception to unveil his running mate, Senator Uche Ekwunife, to his supporters.

He said, “We met with the president in Abuja, and he said to us ‘go and get me Anambra State and connect Anambra to the centre’. That is a mandate, and I want to give you the same mandate to go and gather your people so we can connect Anambra to the centre.

“I and my running mate, Uche Ekwunife, are capable of the task, but we need your support to do it. Take this message to the grassroot. No one should deceive you any longer.”

However, reacting to the development in a press statement released on Sunday, the National Coordinator, APGA Media Warriors Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, said Tinubu never gave such mandate, insisting that Ukachukwu is not the spokesman of the President and not in a position to relay the President’s message to Nigerians.

Obigwe said, “delivering Anambra” to the APC is an impossible mission that cannot be accomplished by Ukachukwu because the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo will defeat him by a wide margin during the election on November 8, 2025.

The statement read in part, “Ukachukwu is still floating on the murky waters of Anambra politics and that he will continue floating until after the declaration of Soludo as the winner of the November 8, 2025 governorship election.

“To start with, Nicholas Ukachukwu is not the spokesman of President Tinubu, and in that regard, he is not in a position to relay President Tinubu’s message to Nigerians. The person that has the right to do that is Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on media to the President and others that are media aides to the President.

“Ukachukwu should have been plain in telling Anambra people that he is eyeing the job of Bayo Onanuga and Daniel Bwala. Another thing is that what Ukachukwu is claiming that the President told him to do is a herculean task.

“He was unable to deliver himself in Anambra South Senatorial election when he contested against the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah in 2023 and that is to say that mandating him to deliver Anambra to APC is sending him on an impossible mission.

“So, even if the President told him to deliver Anambra to APC, he is sending him for an impossible mission.

“Soludo will defeat Ukachukwu with a wide margin on November 8, and Anambra electorates will resist Ukachukwu’s rigging plot with the last drop of their blood.”

According to him, Anambra electorates will vote for Soludo and defend their vote for the governor to continue transforming the state to the envy of other States in Nigeria.

“With Soludo, Anambra is already aligned to the centre, and that is to say Ukachukwu talking about aligning Anambra to the centre is tantamount to him beating around the bush.

“When President Tinubu visited Anambra, he approved all the requests made by Soludo for the betterment of Anambra State, and that is evidence to show that Soludo is enjoying a good working relationship with the President administration.

“The President in his message to Anambra people attested to the undeniable fact that Anambra is rising under the able leadership of Governor Soludo that is his friend. As long as the forthcoming November 8 governorship election is concerned, there is no vacancy in Anambra State. It is Governor Soludo for Governor till March 17, 2030, or nothing,” the statement added.

[Punch]

The bazaar  of  partisan politics is in open swing. The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC,  which has been attracting opposition politicians to itself like magnet, held its National Summit  on May 22, 2025 inside the Aso Rock Presidential Palace.

The venue is symbolic of the President’s powers and could not  be a conducive atmosphere for free debates that should attend a political party summit. The main resolution, which was doubtlessly why the summit held,is the APC declaring “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Sole Presidential Candidate of the APC.” The haste to consecrate the President is  indecent and an assault to  probity and democracy. First, the President had not even gotten half way to his four-year tenure. Short of clairvoyance, how did the party assess the Tinubu  administration’s future performance? I know in the past, pools betting was popular in Nigeria; so, is the APC returning the country to some gambling tradition?

Secondly, the party by its decision, closed the door to all other possible contestants. What type of democracy is that? Thirdly, what is the message? That Tinubu is the alpha and omega of the APC and is therefore not only infallible, but also unchallengeable? As I scanned the summit, the participants appeared more like shareholders of  a privately quoted company waiting for company souvenirs like umbrellas, tea mugs and brooms to be shared before breaking for a promised lunch. But let me be fair to the APC as it has displayed far more gumption than its great Chairman Abdulahi Ganduje who, with a  mischievous smile playing around his lips, had declared ahead of the summit that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock come    2027 when the country goes for  constitutional general elections.    

In a sane  polity, such treasonable utterance should have resulted in Ganduje resigning  and being hurled before the courts.  But not in Nigeria where bottles of champaign might have been popped open to celebrate  such inanity. By the way, did the APC pay for the use of the Presidential Palace? If it did, can the Presidency please show Nigerians the receipt? If it did not, then for a  level playing  field, the place should be left open for other political parties that want to follow the APC footsteps in holding their party summits. Also, another thought crept  into my mind. When the APC endorsed Tinubu as its 2027 presidential candidate, I didn’t hear it mentioned that  Vice President Kashim Shetima  is also getting an automatic ticket. Perhaps the consecrated Tinubu would have the freedom to appoint his running mate.

Doubtlessly, we are not in  a healthy democratic state.  But the solution does not lie in any of the main political parties.   They all are complicit in the sorry state we find ourselves. They are all represented in the   National Assembly where it is ‘yes’ to  the President’s  desires.   Although we can reach a consensus that the vegetative eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari were an unmitigated disaster compounded by the   poverty-inducing policies of the Tinubu administration, we must not forget that the foundations of our socio-economic crises and state of insecurity were partly laid by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.   The bulk of the opposition politicians today were or are in the PDP.  

The fact is that the biggest and best investment in Nigeria is government. So, most politicians outside government are like orphans. Therefore, they are fighting  tenaciously to unseat the Tinubu administration. For this, they are employing  all sorts of subterfuge, including injecting vegetative political parties with steroids to revive them for coalition politics. A few weeks ago, self-acclaimed opposition   politicians met and one of   their main spokesperson was Senator Ishaku Elisha Abbo who had been shown the way out of the Senate in disgraceful circumstances. It was the usual verbiage: Tinubu is running a “government by exclusion and economic insensitivity”, and, of course, the ethnic card: that he is “neglecting the North”.

Then, there is the other major opposition party, the Labour Party, LP. The party  is of good parentage. I know this because I was one of its midwives. But unfortunately, it has always been used and dumped, UAD. In the past 20 years, the LP has been the refuge of politicians who could not secure the ticket of their parent, or preferred parties. Admittedly this has not been for free. Today, the LP has three persons claiming to be legally married to it. Doubtlessly, the strongest is His Excellency Peter Obi who rode it through the 2023 presidential election. He has not expressed any long term interest in it as he is busy registering his Obedient members which would serve him in good stead in case he needs to move out or consolidate his grip.

Whatever the case, the likeable Obi’s primary ambition is to be a presidential candidate in the  2027 presidential election. It is a personal ambition. He personally explained this  in an address to his young supporters in the last week of May, 2025. He said: “I believe we should have a retirement age for politicians. By 2027, I will be 65. If the presidency goes back to the North in 2031, it may not return to the South until 2039 — by then, I will be 77. I wouldn’t want to run for office at that age. It would make a mess of everything.” So, for him to realise his ambition to be President of Nigeria, he must be a candidate, and win. The ideology,   principles and policies of His Excellency are not different either from that of President Tinubu nor the PDP from which he had broken to pick the LP ticket. The only thing he offers that is different from other  politicians is style and a verbal promise to be prudent in the use of resources.  

As Nigerians, we have no business fighting ourselves over which of the mainstream politicians should lord it over us in 2027. It is not our duty to carry out propaganda on their behalf or chorus their singsong. We should learn from the history of slavery, especially in the Americas; that it   is unwise to debate which slave master is better or treats his slaves better. We should simply work to throw away our shackles and embrace freedom. Even if it is not possible for us to build a peoples’ party that can change the course of our history in 2027; we should at least be able to build a consensus on our irreducible minimum demands of any party or anybody that wants to rule.   It is clear that what we had on October 1,1960, when the British colonialists symbolically  left, was some political independence. We need another independence movement. If you agree, please contact me.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister Nyesom Wike has hit back at his political critics, particularly those seeking his expulsion from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying he has not seen anyone who will nullify his membership.

The minister made the declaration on Monday in Abuja during a media parley.

Details later…

[Vanguard]

Who doesn’t know her? She needs no introduction – absolutely none. Her signature brand and classic style is unmistakable and often does not go unnoticed – chic outfit of different shades and colours of Ankara attires clad in simple but nicely done headgears, with the same Ankara material. “Mama Africa,” some call her. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is globally recognised for her outstanding impact on the world stage. A woman with a strong presence and personality, who has brilliantly succeeded in what some people would call a “man’s world” – her ability to navigate and overcome barriers and her unwavering strength and consistency are second-to-none, solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. 

As she’s fondly called in some quarters, NOI became the first woman and African to lead the World Trade Organisation when she assumed office as the Director General on March 1, 2021. A tenure of four years, which ends on 31 August 2025. The General Council of the WTO agreed by consensus of the 166 members to reappoint her for another term, which is set to start on 1 September 2025.

Her reappointment showcases the massive support for her leadership, emphasised by the Chair of the General Council, Ambassador Petter Olberg, who praised her accomplishments and was quoted to have said, “The General Council commends Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for her outstanding leadership during her first term.

Amid significant global economic challenges, she strengthened the WTO’s ability to support its members and set a forward-looking agenda for the organisation. Her leadership was instrumental in securing meaningful outcomes at pivotal moments, including the 12th and 13th Ministerial Conferences (MC12 and MC13), where major milestones were achieved.”

We cannot say her first term has not been without a couple of trade problems. However, she has succeeded in managing the risks and is steering the organisation away from the murky waters. While attempting to lead, for another four years, a troubled organisation that has been low in terms of reaching new agreements due to increasing tensions between the biggest players – the US, the EU, China, Japan, India, UK, etc, her attitude has been crystal clear: that all the major global trade players should approach all the issues constructively and creatively. Her disposition: “Avoid any kind of disputes that would be detrimental to the functioning of the world trade system.”

While insisting on the “importance of rules-based global trading”, she has pledged to work harmoniously with all the dominant stakeholders and the world leaders, especially with Donald Trump, whose economic reforms and steps taken to restructure the US bilateral trade relationships and agreements have been criticised by several global leaders as putting gasoline on the world economy with a potential to tank it, and whom a few experts think may not want to be on the same page with her – “I look very much forward to working with President Trump… I am eager for it.” Nevertheless, many observers suggested the decision of the General Council to speed up the process of her reappointment was essentially to avoid Trump-America from blocking her candidacy just the same way he did in his first term. Keith Rockwell, a senior research fellow at Hinrich Foundation and a former WTO spokesman said, “The unstated objective was to accelerate the process, because they did not want Trump’s team to come in and veto her as they did four years ago.”  And the decision hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Trump team. A former trade official under Trump 1.0 criticised it as “completely politically tone deaf.”

Just like with the World Health Organisation (WHO), which the US recently pulled out its membership from, Trump has not hidden his disdain for some of the policies and operational methodologies of the WTO, especially on what he alleged as its softness on China’s wolfish economic practices against its competitors and the classification of the Communist China as a developing country. You get a sense that in Trump’s view, the WTO’s purported squishy treatment of China and a few other members may be responsible for much of the trade malpractices – particularly the bulk of the non-tariff operations.

The global stage was inundated by what can be called the sensational events that greeted the declaration of the WTO chief’s candidacy in her first term. While she received an overwhelming support from member countries across board for her candidacy, America under the Trump 1.0 did not. This blatant and vehement opposition, which sparked widespread reactions, resulted in many experts trying to offer the probable reasons for the resistance. Quite a number of commentators believe it may likely be hinged on performance. The Trump’s team believe that being a development economist even with a profound track record spanning about a quarter of a century at the World Bank and as Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, she knows little to nothing on trade. This position was underscored by Trump’s former trade representative, Robert Lighthizer who said, “His stated view was that Ngozi doesn’t know the WTO and is not a trade person.”

If the fears of her performance and delivery on the job was actually the reason she was not supported by Trump, then it is untenable now and goes without saying as her first four years have stood in sharp contrast to that, demonstrating over and over again that she is no fluke and does not fit the bill of a non-performer. It is clearly a smoking gun that even her deadliest critics cannot refute that she has done phenomenally well. In her current term, she has driven policies that allowed members to forge stronger trade and economic ties, and until a few months ago, the world had lived out a period of tranquillity and progress as far as trade relations were concerned.

Beyond doubt, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has been unapologetically trade-centric as the WTO Chief, against the speculations, which are legendary, of many that she would stonewall the smooth implementation of trade relations. She has proved them wrong as she has not ground the gears of global trade to a halt and her time at the helm of affairs of the WTO has not whiplashed the foreign trade community. Her masterstrokes, all of which are intricately intertwined, have been how she sustained and deepened trade alliances across geopolitical regions, easing tension and pushing for the de-prioritisation of the national interests of individual members on trade, instead, pushing for the consummation of trade transactions in the interest of global unity and prosperity – incentivising cooperation to minimise protectionism, a sticking point to seamless global trade.

To others, nonetheless, Trump’s penchant for racially-motivated rhetoric, considered discriminatory and offensive by a section of people of a specific race, may have influenced his decision not to back Dr. Okonjo-Iweala in her first term. Many folks believe his alleged remarks about the African continent, which at times have been nothing short of uncomplimentary, may have been responsible for his refusal to support her. Whatever it was, I strongly think the dynamics in his second presidency should take a whole new twist. In line with the assertion of Martin Luther King Jr, the WTO Chief’s time in office should not be judged by the colour of her skin but the content of her character, and I dare say too, that it should be evaluated by her achievements and profound credibility.

The ongoing unease in global trade relations, which has created apprehension and a feeling of restlessness for many countries as far as trade is concerned, is playing an enormous part in driving the WTO Chief to actively and passionately pursue collaboration with the heavyweights in foreign trade to relieve the concerns which are palpable and avoid getting into acts that would jeopardise the survival of the international trade community – a case of simply avoiding a situation of here today, gone the next.

Beyond question, the global trade network is looking forward to a monumentally successful second term of the WTO under the strategic leadership direction of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. In all of this nonetheless, I am optimistic, cautiously though, that the biggest competitors in the global trade structure would not put a heavy thumb on the WTO but would be equitable, fair and balanced. It is equally hoped that the two largest economies in the world – the US and China, would close trade ranks and choose a path that will be uniquely focused on leading the pack and getting on a little bit better with the WTO under an African-American woman, who herself has not been sleeping on the wheels in her quest to provide unparalleled leadership needed to forge a new and prosperous future for all members and key stakeholders.

In conclusion, it is like a potter working on a clay pot, which ends up in a mess, as is often the case. The solution? The potter simply makes a fresh start using the same clay to make another pot. In like manner, there is a growing push to see a fresh, glowing start not just among the biggest global trading partners, but more importantly, these super powers enhancing their partnerships with the WTO to guarantee the success of the multilateral trading system. It is anticipated that for example, the attitude and disposition of Trump’s America in the second term of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be dramatically upended. One would hope: he deploys the same amount of energy and resolve in opposing her candidacy in her first term to fully, unequivocally collaborate with her over the next four years and as the leader of the free world, demonstrate strong leadership required to obliterate any noticeable rifts that shape global trade patterns which normally arise due to wavering global priorities.

Ande, a financial and political economy analyst, writes from Lagos and can be reached via eyitayoande@gmail.com

Two years can feel both fleeting and painfully long in Nigeria. Seven hundred and thirty dawns have rolled across the savannah, the creeks, and the sprawling megacities since the last electoral hoopla promised a national rebirth. We now stand midway between ballots, yet conversation in Abuja’s corridors is drifting toward 2027 slogans when democracy must earn its keep in the seasons between elections. The urgency of the next campaign should be postponed until we have addressed the daily audits posed by breadwinners, commuters, farmers, and students who have lived through every one of those 730 days.

This daily audit includes answers to the following questions: Are Nigerians better off now than they were in 2023? Is the economy better off now than in 2023? Has there been a measurable decrease in terrorism, kidnapping and violent crime rates since 2023? Are we better off with electric power today than we were in 2023? Do Nigerians have access to more and better food than they did in 2023? ⁠Are Nigerians more united today than they were two years ago? Are more resources being allocated to local and state governments today, and how does this affect development at those levels? Do more Nigerians have access to quality education and healthcare today? Has corruption been reduced? Are laws applied equally to all citizens, including government officials? Until those who occupy offices sincerely answer these questions – we cannot talk about progress. These are not just statistics, but the daily realities of the average Nigerian.

Let’s start with the matter of feeling safe. Guns have fallen silent in a few long-suffering districts while new flashpoints have erupted elsewhere. One can cite downward-trending incident charts in Zamfara or Katsina but also point to the resurgence of mass kidnappings on the Abuja–Kaduna axis and plateau –Benue axis. According to data from SBM Intelligence, Nigeria recorded over 3,600 abductions between May 2023 and April 2025, with the North-West and North-Central zones remaining the most affected.

Yet, in areas like Borno and Yobe, incidents of Boko Haram violence have significantly decreased, thanks in part to renewed counter-insurgency strategies and regional collaborations under the Multinational Joint Task Force. The grandmother who now sleeps with both eyes shut in her Borno village may indeed feel progress, but the family still cobbling together ransom money in the South-East wonders what “progress” means. Safety is ultimately measured in the heartbeat that no longer races when dusk approaches.

Electricity tells its own story. Nigeria’s grid capacity currently hovers between 4,500 to 5,000 megawatts on most days, barely improving from the 4,000 MW average of 2023. Yet, despite promises of improved power supply, the country experienced no fewer than seven national grid collapses between May2023 and May 2024. Diesel now sells for over ₦1,500 per litre, up from about ₦850 in early 2023, making self-generation increasingly unaffordable.

Mini-grid interventions, particularly solar installations supported by the Rural Electrification Agency, have provided stable electricity to over 500,000 households in underserved areas, including Ogun, Nasarawa, and parts of the Northeast. But in most urban neighbourhoods, the hum of private generators remains the national anthem after sunset. Reliable power, ultimately, is best expressed not in megawatts but in refrigerators that stay cold and homework that is finished beneath a steady light bulb.

In the fight against corruption, promise and disillusion continue their tug-of-war. Televised arrests of “big men” in the government’s early months suggested no one was untouchable, but the glow dimmed as plea bargains and closed-door settlements multiplied. Anti-graft agencies complain about thin budgets while lawmakers debate fresh immunity clauses. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reported 4,111 convictions in 2024, a record number. High-profile cases, including those involving former governors and serving senators, were reopened; however, many ultimately ended in plea bargains or were delayed in court.

In October 2023, President Tinubu suspended the EFCC chairman over allegations of misconduct—an irony not lost on citizens who hoped for a cleaner era. Justice is less about dramatic arrests than about quiet transparency: a national procurement database that tracks every public contract or a judiciary that concludes cases in months, not decades. Until the law holds the powerful to the same standard, each new anti-corruption czar will appear like the latest actor in an overplayed drama.

Macroeconomic statistics paint a fractured portrait. While Nigeria’s GDP grew at 2.98% in Q1 2024, inflation climbed to 33.69% in April 2025, its highest in nearly three decades. The naira has depreciated by over 65% since the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the exchange rate. In 2023, a 50kg bag of rice sold for ₦35,000; in 2025, it hovers at around ₦75,000, and the arithmetic is merciless: a salary that rises by ten per cent in a year of thirty-per cent inflation is a pay cut in disguise.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that over 63% of Nigerians are now multidimensionally poor, with inflation eroding the purchasing power of even those who are formally employed. Policymakers celebrate tech unicorns and export growth in non-oil sectors, such as sesame and cocoa, yet market women judge the economy by the cost of Koko and Kosai, Garri and palm oil. Aneconomy “on paper” does not cook Ogbono soup.

Still, some green shoots poke through the cracked soil. Fintech and creative industries continue to prove that young Nigerians, when not hamstrung by policy miscues, can compete far beyond their borders. The creative economy continues to soar, with Afrobeats grossing over $1 billion globally in 2024 and Nollywood titles featured on international platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Nigeria’s tech sector attracted over $1.3 billion in foreign investment in 2023 alone, with hubs in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Port Harcourt producing fintech solutions that serve millions across Africa.

In agriculture, agricultural technology outfits are making incremental gains in yield, and programmes like the National Agricultural Growth Scheme (NAGS) have distributed inputs to over 1.2 million smallholder farmers. However, insecurity and climate variability have stunted large-scale productivity. Food remains both sustenance and mirror: when conflict empties farms, and climate change scrambles rainy seasons, a plate of cookedrice becomes a fragile triumph.

Decentralisation ought to bring the state closer to its citizens. Following fuel subsidy reforms, monthly FAAC allocations to states have increased by over 60% between mid-2023 and early 2025. Yet many state governments have not translated this windfall into visible improvements. For example, Niger, Enugu and Kaduna states have begun investing in technical education and road infrastructure, but local government transparency remains weak. Roads, water schemes and primary-care clinics ought to blossom in tandem, yet potholes and abandoned projects remain stubborn. Money arrives in capitals more reliably than it reaches ward level, where a broken borehole means girls trekking for hours to fetch water. The grassroots will remain neglected until public finance is matched with public accountability.

Healthcare and education—the twin pillars of human capital—show modest but inconsistent progress. New primary health centres have opened, but many lack essential resources, such as drugs and nurses. The National Health Insurance Authority now allows mobile phone enrolment; however, uptake is sluggish among informal-sector workers who recall earlier deductions vanishing into bureaucracy. The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) expanded enrolment to over 15 million Nigerians in 2024; however, out-of-pocket health expenditure still accounts for more than 70% of total healthcare costs.

In education, initiatives like the Safe Schools Programme have secured some learning environments, but basic literacy remains alarmingly low, especially in the Northeast, where only 27% of children aged 6–11 attend school regularly. While state-level reforms in places like Ebonyi and Enugu have delivered model schools and digital classrooms, the national picture remains one of inequality and underfunding. Two years is too short to erase decades of neglect, but it is long enough to show whether reform is sprinting or simply strolling. The good news is that the Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Olatunji Alausa, and the Minister of Health, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, have demonstrated creativity and leadership in turning around these sectors in Nigeria.

Social cohesion, always fragile, continues to teeter on the edge. Ethnic tension flared during the 2023 off-cycle elections in Kogi and Bayelsa while hate speech and disinformation proliferated across social media platforms. However, shared national moments—such as the Super Falcons’ exploits at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and global acclaim for Nigerian creatives—continue to offer flickers of unity. The federal character principle remains contentious as calls grow louder for restructuring and a rotational presidency. Unity cannot be decreed; it is cultivated by fairness perceived, and fairness experienced.

As for the democracy dividend, surveys by NOI Polls show that while 57% of Nigerians still believe in democracy as the best form of government, only 21% say it is delivering real economic improvement. Voters who queued in the sun in 2023 were not asking for utopia; they were asking for water that runs, roads that last, jobs that pay, and leaders who listen. If those basics remain aspirations in 2025, then democracy’s moral account is deeply overdrawn.

Politics loves horizons; governance must love the now. Every glowing statistic deployed at a press conference will be interrogated by the aroma in a market woman’s pot and the hum—or hush—of a factory line. The following 730 days, before the ballot, are not for campaign rehearsal but for rigorous implementation and a shrinking window to make today visibly better than yesterday. Genuine wins deserve applause. Glaring gaps demand humility. What matters now is the quiet grind of delivery—measurable, consistent, and ruthless in execution. Only then will talk of 2027 feel like anticipation and not escapism — another escape from the realities of 2025. The issues raised here will define 2027.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in his farmhouse address in Otta, Ogun State during the last weekend of January 2002. It was supposed to be a short get-away from work in Abuja where he was routinely out of bed before 6am and rarely retired before 2am the next morning. But work followed him to Otta, salient files from his Abuja office shipped over. Some of his senior aides and public officers also stopped by. From Otta, he was scheduled to undertake a two-day official visit to Katsina State. It was part of his countrywide tours, appraising the permeation of tangible dividends of democracy to Nigerians at all levels. I was on Obasanjo’s staff and had proceeded from Abuja on the advance team to tidy up preparations and to receive him. Sunday January 27, 2002, the evening before his scheduled departure from Otta en route Lagos to Katsina, however, unprecedented, massive explosions occurred in Lagos. The air was thick with uncertainty. Where could this earth-quaking “bombings” have taken place? Was it precedent to a coup to topple the nascent Obasanjo government?

The security ring around the President decided to be proactive. With the pervading confusion, the wisest probable thing to do was to move the President to safety, just in case it was a putsch. Should he be flown back to Abuja through Lagos? Should he drive to neighbouring Benin Republic as guest of his Beninoise counterpart? The genetically strong-willed Obasanjo would rather await security briefing. He wasn’t going anywhere, he said. Reports came in to the effect that the mishap occurred at the Abalti Barracks, Ikeja Cantonment, in Lagos. It occurred at the armoury of the military facility, where high calibre explosives were improperly stored. The tragedy claimed well over 1000 casualties, military and civilian. It displaced over 20,000, as it spread rapidly to adjoining districts and communities. Obasanjo had to be persuaded by his personal physician to get some sleep because of his loaded schedule ahead the following day. He stayed up, eyes wide open late into the night.

Obasanjo began his day on Monday January 28, 2002, at the Ikeja Cantonment. He toured the site of the occurrence and the adjoining areas which were flattened by the detonations and held a meeting with the military commanders. He considered rescheduling the Katsina trip in sympathy with the casualties. He was reminded by his protocol officials, however, that the Katsina visited had earlier been scheduled and cancelled because of the unavailability of the Governor of the state at the time, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Yar’Adua who succeeded Obasanjo in 2007, was abroad for a long spell, on cogent medical grounds. Before a sullen-faced Obasanjo addressed his hosts in Katsina when he eventually arrived, he called for two minutes of silence in memory of those that died in the Ikeja incident, and to empathise with the injured and displaced.

Ehigie Edobor Uzamere who represented Edo South Senatorial District in the seventh and eighth national assemblies, is 70 today. An elaborate event has been laid out to commemorate the landmark in Benin City, the Edo State capital. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, GCON, is one of the very high profile dignitaries who was expected to grace the high profile programme. Reports indicate that members of Atiku’s entourage received reminders last night, detailing his itinerary. Earlier today, however, the Office of the Former Vice President put out the following statement:

Cancellation of Benin Trip Due to Recent National Tragedies:

I write to inform you that His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Waziri Adamawa, Vice President of Nigeria, (1999-2007), has reflected on the twin national tragedies in Niger and Kano States, where flooding and road traffic accidents have respectively claimed the lives of several Nigerians. In the light of this, he has decided to CANCEL his planned trip to Benin City, Edo State, this afternoon, June 1, 2025. This is to enable him mourn and pay his respects to the victims and their families.

The statement was signed by Yahaya Ibrahim Zango, Principal Private Secretary to the former Vice President.

It is important to provide this background as counterpoint to the momentary retirement of President Bola Tinubu to Lagos for some official engagements, and the observance of the forthcoming Eid-el-Kabir festival. Tinubu left Abuja on Tuesday May 27, 2025, to attend a string of programmes. According to the press statement which announced his movements, he will remain in Nigeria’s old capital city until the conclusion of the ileya event on Monday June 9, 2025. To this extent, he will be away from Abuja for two weeks. Thus far, the President has attended ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS). He is equally commissioning and inspecting projects completed or initiated by his administration, to mark the second year anniversary of his presidency.

Before Tinubu’s departure from Abuja, he had been duly briefed about recent heightened attacks and incursions into parts of the North East, especially Borno State, which has been troubled by insurgents, for several years. He was acquainted about renewed, genocidal-scale killings in parts of the North Central, especially Benue and Plateau states. Bandits and miscreants have equally recently unsettled the peace and quiet of the Yoruba-speaking section of Kogi State, Okunland, across its six local government areas. Flooding in Niger State, also in the Middle Belt region, has claimed over 100 lives and disconnected parts of Nigeria’s North and South West, by the collapse of the all-important North-South bridge in Mokwa, in Niger State. Just yesterday, 22 members of the Kano State contingent to the recently concluded National Sports Festival in Ogun State, were consumed in an automobile mishap. The President’s prototype message of commiseration, and his directives to relevant departments of government to step in and provide succour in these various instances, is in the public space.

While spontaneous press releases and phone calls have their places in state administration, nothing compensates for that essential human touch, that conscientious empathy, in circumstances and periods of grave nationwide anguish such as we are in. The nation’s streets are lacquered by the blood of innocents, across our luminous geographical perimeters. The belly of the earth chokes and suffers reflux beneath the tonnages of unceasing and ill-timed cadavers it daily receives. Death, to borrow from the evergreen lyrics of the revered, veteran Yoruba music artist, Ebenezer Obey, has become “two for half a penny. Communities are displaced by the intolerable activities of rampagers and marauders, echoing memories of the 30-month bitter civil war which our country survived between 1967 and 1970. The living and medical conditions of internally displaced persons, (IDPs) in Benue State for example, are better not discussed. Yet, one generation of Nigerian toddlers bred and raised in those hovels, have never glimpsed another home, another community.

Times like this call for true, sincere leadership. Times like this demand way beyond the commandist outsourcing of responsibilities to scheduled appointees. They demand beyond monarchy-style overlordship as Nigerians perceive their leaders. They call for proactive and compassionate leadership. The Nigerian President is easily one of the most pampered across the world. He possesses every equipment and facility to enable his locomotion around the country, even the world, by the snap of his fingers. In a season such as this when gloom and despair pervade the nation, Tinubu should intentionally extricate himself from fawning aides and grovelling courtiers and demonstrate physical identification and genuine concern and humanity for his beleaguered constituents.

Very clearly, the campaign for the 2027 presidential election has been flagged off. President Tinubu is receiving endorsements and adoptions in places. His morale about the continuation of his job beyond his subsisting mandate which ends on May 29, 2027, is high. Tinubu, however, has pressing, present obligations to Nigerians, well ahead of 2027. The way he redeems these commitments by way of good governance of some sort, will largely determine the direction the hand of the clock ticks, come 2027. Except if the polls have been predetermined as has notoriously become the vogue with Naija-style democracy and electoral system.

Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors (FANA), is an adjunct professor of creative writing at the University of Abuja.