Renowned businessman, socialite, and philanthropist, Obi Cubana, has appealed to the federal and state governments to create an enabling environment that fosters entrepreneurship and makes life easier for Nigerian youths.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the Gavice Logistics conference on igniting innovation, Obi Cubana emphasized the need for infrastructure development and improved security to boost entrepreneurship.

According to Obi Cubana, a conducive business environment is crucial for the success of Nigerian youths. He highlighted the importance of good roads, for instance, in the logistics business, saying:

“Youths They need good roads to transport their goods from one point to the other”.

He urged governments to construct good roads and address insecurity, which hinders business growth.

Obi Cubana stressed that youths are not asking for handouts but rather an environment that allows them to thrive.

“The youths are not asking governments to buy vehicles for them but to create that enabling environment and remove all those blockages on the road.” 

He lamented the multiple taxes and regulatory hurdles that discourage young entrepreneurs, saying:

“People buy and sell, but the multiple taxes to worry about is demoralising.

He warned that if these challenges persist, youths may be driven to harmful activities, and the consequences would be dire.

“If these young people start to get involved in harmful things, who do we hold responsible?”

“Also, people should be able to move from one point to the other without fear of being robbed or kidnapped” he said.

The Chairman of Cubana Group also advised youths to embrace innovation and hard work to achieve success.

He emphasized that business operators must adapt to different seasons and challenges, saying:

“There are different seasons in businesses. It is left to the operators of businesses to know how to approach each season.

“There are times when things are difficult and times when the business is doing very well.

“Life is a hurdle, and with each challenge faced, you must know how to jump it and continue your journey to the next stage until you succeed.

“Nobody should stop a journey because times are hard.

“Therefore, business owners especially the young ones, must be innovative” he said.

A 39-year-old fruit seller, Dolapo Babalola, has narrated how he killed his cousin and four others for rituals at Okeigbo, in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Babalola, who was paraded alongside 18 other suspected criminals, confessed that he used their body parts for rituals.

His herbalists and accomplices were also paraded by the police at the police headquarters in Akure, the state capital.

In an interview with newsmen, the suspect narrated how he killed his victims and disembered their bodies for rituals.

The suspect said he always attack motorcyclists by snatching their bikes from them and thereafter, killed them when his victims recognise him. He said he attacked his victims with stone and stick whenever they recognise him after dragging their motorcycles with them.

The suspect, who confessed that he had been in the illicit business since 2021, said they carried out their operations within the town and the neighbouring states.

Babalola said: “I have killed five persons, including my cousin and my friend and snatched their motorcycles. I killed Opeyemi, who was my friend and sold the motorcycle to one man at Ibadan called Toheed.

“I do not sell human parts but I took part of one of my victims’ bodies to an herbalist in Ondo, who promised to give me an Ifa Oracle.

“At the point where we snatch motorcycles, anyone who struggles with me in the process gets hit on the head with a big stone and a stick.”

Parading the suspects, the state Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Oladapo, said: “Sequel to the arrest of one Babalola Daniel, who led police detectives to a shallow grave at Okeigbo where the corpse of Opeyemi Oyelakin, a commercial motorcyclist was exhumed, other suspects have been arrested in connection with the case.

“Further investigation revealed that the suspect had killed four persons in various locations and stole their motorcycles.
“In April 2023, he killed a motorcyclist in Kabba, Kogi State and Ife along Ilesha road in Osun State, removed some parts from the corpse for rituals. 

“In June 2023, he killed another motorcyclist at Ondo town and dumped the corpse in a farm at Oboto bush along Bolorunduro road, Ondo town while in October 2023, the suspect and one Sikiru Mutiu aka S.K deceived his childhood friend by name Joel Olagoke to take them with his motorcycle to a location where he was killed, his body dismembered and handed to herbalists: Mujeeb Lawal and Shina Ojo (both in police custody), for rituals.

“The duo of Abiola Toheeb and Ayegbajeje Michael, who are receivers of stolen items and one Oyediran Olaitan, who helped in the production of fake documents to aid the selling of the stolen motorcycles have been arrested.

Fools at the top would cause damage to any system not to talk of the fragile institutions of a fledgling democracy.”—Charles Archibong, A Stranger in Their Midst: A Memoir, 97 (2021)

IN the last week of April, 2024, Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Olukayode Ariwoola, co-convened and chaired a “National Summit on Justice” in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital. Addressing the participants “with a profound sense of responsibility”, the CJN invited them “on a journey of comprehensive reform to ensure that justice is not only dispensed but also perceived to be dispensed fairly and impartially.” More specifically, he asked them to identify “gaps and inconsistencies that hinder the efficient administration of justice.”

 No issue is as afflicted with such gaps in knowledge and inconsistencies of practice and yet so dispositive of outcomes in justice administration as judicial appointments in Nigeria. Yet, it is the one area about which little is public and debate is discouraged.

 On 21 December 2023, the Senate consented to the appointment of 11 new Justices of the Supreme Court, all of whom used to be Justices of the Court of Appeal. In addition to the 11 vacancies, mortalities and retirements together combined to create a total of 22 vacancies that the NJC approved to be filled on the Court of Appeal bench. On 24 January 2024, the President of the Court of Appeal, PCA, Monica Dongban-Mensem, with consent of the National Judicial Council, NJC, led by the CJN, wrote to all heads of courts in the country to request nominations to the Court of Appeal.

 Three years earlier, when they met on judicial elevations to the Court of Appeal on 19 November 2020, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC, had approved a rule proposed by Monica Dongban-Mensem, that “judges that had not spent up to five years on the Bench” and “those who would not spend up to five years if appointed before retirement” should not be considered.

 On 2 April 2024, the same FJSC approved 22 nominees by Monica Dongban-Mensem for appointment to the Court of Appeal, including six from the North-Central; five from the South-East; four from the South-West; three each from the North-West and South-South; and one from the North-East. To reprise the formulation of Chief Justice Ariwoola, this list is full of “gaps and inconsistencies.”

 One of the nominees from the North-Central is Eleojo Enenche from Kogi State. He was only appointed a judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in November 2021 from his then position as personal assistant to the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court. Enenche spent nine months attached to Olukayode Adeniyi, a senior judge of the same High Court. At less than three years as a judge of the FCT High Court, few of his cases would have come to judgment and it is unlikely that any of his judgments would have been tested on appeal. On any objective reading of the applicable criteria, this is at best a profoundly premature preferment.

 Eleojo Enenche is not the only one in this category. Sister-in-law to a senior politician and former junior to an influential Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Victoria Nwoye, the nominee from Anambra State, became a lawyer in 2005 and worked in the Customary Court system in Abuja before being sworn in as judge on 2 December, 2019. She is currently reading for an LL.M at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, the state capital. Of the 30 judges currently in service in Anambra State High Court, she is last at number 30 in seniority and clearly below five years as a judge.

 Born on 9 March 1959, Henry Aja-Onu Njoku, the nominee from Ebonyi State, does not have five years before mandatory retirement at 70. Nominated from Lagos State, Lateef Lawal-Akapo was born 6 August, 1959. From Nasarawa State and born on 2 November, 1959, Abdullahi Liman is currently the third most senior judge in the Federal High Court. None among these three has judicial shelf-life to spare for the Court of Appeal.

 The applicable rules of the NJC require all judicial nominations to be accompanied by a “detailed medical certificate of fitness issued by government hospital or medical institution.” Although health information is ordinarily confidential, this requirement makes the health status of judicial nominees a matter of public interest and for good reason too

  In June 2023, Nyesom Wike, the husband of one of the nominees from the South-South, Eberechi Nyesom-Wike, publicly announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer in 2022. Ordinarily, cancer survivorship is computed at the threshold of five years post-diagnosis. It is proper and human to wish a cancer patient full recovery. It is a brutal and relentless disease. But it is doubtful that advancing a cancer patient to an equally relentless judicial office necessarily enhances the cause of their well-being (unless the administration of justice is not the primary consideration).

On this list of nominees to the Court of Appeal, Oyo State, which already has two Justices of Appeal, will receive another two, the only state to be so favoured. This will bring to four the number of Justices from the state from which the out-going CJN hails. By contrast, Ogun State, which is also in the South-West, has only one Justice of Appeal – Adebukola Banjoko. In this round of appointments, they will get none.

  To understand the perverse incongruities in the Court of Appeal preferments, it is relevant to mention that there is also a contemporaneous process of hire into the bench of the FCT High Court. That list contains a daughter-in-law of the CJN, a daughter of the PCA, and a daughter of the current CJ of the FCT, among many judicial daughters on it.

 It does not take a major feat of insight to figure out that the CJ of the FCT High Court, the PCA and the CJN are clearly doing mutual back-scratching in judicial appointments.

 It also disincentivizes honest, hard-working judges.

 This is also a clear violation Rule 11(iv) of the Code of Conduct for judicial officers in Nigeria which requires that “in the exercise of his administrative duties, a judicial officer should avoid nepotism and favoritism.” The irony is that Olukayode Ariwoola would not be able to get away with this tendency if he were to be Adajo Agba (Chief Justice) of Iseyin or of Oke-Ogun. That is a sad commentary on the current state of the judiciary that he will leave behind when Olukayode Ariwoola departs from office on 22 August 2024. 

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

With service delivery in the financial services sector being gradually taken over by Artificial Intelligence (AI), Nigerians are at risk of data abuse from providers of financial services, LEADERSHIP can now reveal.

This is as Nigeria is losing $500 million to cybercrimes, translating to N675 billion annually using the N1,350/$ conversion rate that the nation’s currency traded at the weekend.

Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows the country loses the aforementioned annually to various forms of cybercrimes, with the banks losing N8 billion to cybercrimes in 2022.

While NCC disclosed that 71 percent of companies reported one form of cyber-attack or another, the Nigeria Interbank Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) disclosed that the financial industry lost N50.5 billion to fraud between 2019 and July 2023.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a simulation of human intelligence into a machine format such that the machine can do routine tasks faster.

As much as AI is good for promotion of banking, insurance and pension businesses, experts have pointed out the challenge in data protection and privacy.

There are concerns that private data submitted to financial sector providers, which ought to be secret, could be exposed through AI, thereby serving as a breeding ground for cybercriminals to launch attacks on unsuspecting customers of banks and other financial services providers.

To this end, Nigerians have been warned to beware of AI-induced software they download on their phones as most of them spy on private information that could be hacked by hackers to perpetrate their evil acts.

Financial firms have reported significant direct losses, totaling almost $12 billion since 2004 and $2.5 billion since 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disclosed.
In its April 2024 Global Financial Stability Report released recently, IMF stated that attacks on financial firms account for nearly one-fifth of the total, of which banks are the most exposed.

Similarly, informational technology (IT) professionals are concerned about the threat landscape associated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and have revealed that attackers are now using sophisticated linguistic techniques, such as longer sentences, more punctuations and increased text volume, to carry out attacks, particularly in the financial industry.

As they anticipate more threat actors utilising AI to enlarge every facet of their offensive toolbox, IT experts claim that generative AI enables attackers to quickly and efficiently create complex and targeted attacks.

The latest report from Computer Crime Research Centre (CCRC) has projected that the cost of cybercrime will rise to $12 trillion by 2024 due to AI technology, saying: “As we move forward in 2024 and 2025, in the market will see attackers adopting AI to carry out their attacks. AI will be adopted to deliver more cost-efficient, rapid development of new malware and ransomware variants.

“Deepfake technologies will take phishing and impersonation attacks to a new level. Businesses will embrace AI but will be threatened by its use in novel cyber-attacks. There is also a risk that the dynamic character of AI-driven attacks could make static defence mechanisms ineffective.

“Vertical segments covering manufacturing, retail, professional services, financial, and utilities will be the most vulnerable. This is partly driven by vulnerabilities across the legacy nature of their network, technology maturity, and elevated risk impact levels to the business as a result of cyber-attacks,” the report revealed.

Corroborating the findings of the research, retired director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Dr. Jacob Afolabi, observed that there had been a plethora of significant incidents concerning cyber threats in 2023, all of which have a wide range of effects on governmental or organisational entities.
Afolabi explained that Al technologies often collect and analyse large amounts of data, raising issues related to data privacy and security.

“As Al technologies become increasingly sophisticated, the security risks associated with their use and the potential for misuse also increases. Hackers and malicious actors can harness the power of Al to develop more advanced cyber-attacks, bypass security measures, and exploit vulnerabilities in systems,” he asserted.

To diminish privacy risks, Afolabi advocated strict data protection regulations and safe data handling practices.

While over-reliance on Al systems may lead to a loss of creativity, critical thinking skills, and human intuition, the retired director stressed the need to strike a balance between Al-assisted decision-making and human input, which is vital to preserving human cognitive abilities.

“Al-driven automation has the potential to lead to job losses across various industries, particularly for low-skilled workers. To mitigate the risk, the workforce must adapt and acquire new skills to remain relevant in the changing landscape. This is especially true for lower-skilled workers in the current labour force,” he added.

In the same vein, the government affairs director, Microsoft Africa, Akua Gyekye, stated that when it comes to using AI safely, one of the most effective ways to accelerate progress is to build on existing governmental frameworks.

Several African countries, he stressed, had already begun to formulate their own legal and policy frameworks and are helping to lead discussions around AI policy and strategy development on a regional, continental, and global scale, offering valuable insights for other countries looking to do the same, adding that, while at different stages of implementation, they all are looking to find balance between the need to create guardrails for the new technology and at the same time wanting to help a nascent industry grow, innovate, and adopt these new and emerging technologies.

She stated that the African Union (AU) continues to convene experts from across the continent and this year published a policy draft containing a comprehensive continental strategy for AI regulations for African countries.

The head of corporate planning, strategy and risk management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Kelechi Nwankwo, explained that the fast-disruptive world of the telecoms industry had witnessed the convergence of diverse technological advancements with the potential to reshape the future.

Expressing similar concern, the managing director/CEO, Guinea Insurance Plc, Ademola Abidogun, said that as much as artificial intelligence is good for the promotion of insurance and pension businesses, the challenge lies in data protection.

“AI helps profile customers and assists in carving out a product that suits the needs of each customer, relying on their data to know what each customer wants at any point in time.

“Yet, as good as AI is, there are the issues of data protection and privacy. This is critical so that sensitive information about a customer is not abused by data harvesters, thereby tramping on their privacy. There should be regulation on data that can be harvested for use, and on some sensitive information, there should be consent before that information can be used. Stakeholders should come together to address this, especially in the era of cybercrimes and attacks,” he stated.

The IMF had earlier said cyber events constitute a major operational risk that might jeopardise the operational stability of financial institutions and negatively impact macrofinancial stability as a whole.

To strengthen resilience in the financial sector, the IMF suggested that central banks and authorities must create a sufficient national cyber security strategy and implement efficient regulation and supervisory measures, which should include: regular evaluation of the state of cyber security and detection of possible systemic vulnerabilities resulting from concentrations and interconnections, including those arising from third-party service providers; improved cyber-related governance to lower cyber risk and supports the idea of promoting cyber ‘maturity’ among financial sector companies, including board-level access to cyber security knowledge, among others.

Similarly, the chairman of the Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of Nigerian Financial Institutions (CCISONFI), Mr. Festus Amede, stated the importance of implementing robust security measures to protect sensitive financial data in the face of emerging threats.

Phillips Consulting Limited (PCL), in a report, noted that the surge in big data, driven by customers’ digital interactions and the utilisation of structured and unstructured data, along with the rapid expansion of cloud technology and robust computational resources, has accelerated this transformative change, enabling organisations to embrace AI with unprecedented readiness.

Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah, on Sunday, matched a record set by Wayne Rooney during their 4-2 win over Tottenham.

Salah, Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott all scored at Anfield before the hour mark, as the Reds kept their faint title hopes alive.

As well as scoring the opener, the ‘Egyptian King’ assisted Elliott for his wondergoal.

This brings his tally for the campaign to 18 goals and 10 assists so far.

Salah has now become the first player to score 10+ and assist 10+ in three consecutive seasons.

Furthermore, he has become just the second player to hit double figures in both metrics in five separate seasons.

The only other player to achieve this feat was Rooney while he played at Manchester United

Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, has suggested that Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, is a bitter person.

Onanuga made the expression in a post on his X handle on Monday, while sharing another post on Obi by Nwachukwu Chigozie @chigozie0102.

Chigozie in his post called Obi ‘chief mourner’, saying he (Obi) woke up and went to Canada to ‘practice demarketing of Nigeria.’

“Chief mourner woke up, wore his usual mourning clothes and went to Canada to practice his market to market demarketing of Nigeria, while he was at it, the Mayor of the town got hold of the Mic and started singing the praises of Nigeria, Lagos in particular. The bitter loser didn’t know when he joined his hurriedly assembled crowd to start clapping for the mayor.”

The statement might have stemmed from Obi’s recent visit to Canada, where he criticized the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, server during the last presidential election.

The former Anambra State governor also complained that the current administration, alongside its agencies, had resorted to calling him names and organizing town hall meeting for him.

However, the spokesman to the presidency quoted the post on his personal X handle, writing: “Bitter Obi”.

Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, stated that 80 per cent of buildings in Ibeju Lekki have no approval.

He disclosed this in a recent interview with newsmen.

He said, “Just last week Thursday and Friday, myself and the team were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree with me that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked. We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 per cent of them do not have approval.

“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land. Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.

“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expense of land follows.”

Olumide noted that a layout permit cannot be obtained if it is not zoned for the purpose it was designed for or for the purpose it was being requested.

“So, you can see all these layers, but people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge. Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose,” the commissioner explained.

In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Octo5 Holdings, Jide Odusolu, said Lekki Peninsula’s masterplan got distorted post-2010 due to rapid development, with newer estates sidestepping old regulations.

He said, “The Lekki peninsula had a master plan which was originally launched when Bola Tinubu was the governor and updated under Babatunde Fashola. Almost all large estates along the Lekki corridor, especially those developed between 2000-2008, have approved layout plans. It was obligatory and rigidly enforced by the state government.

“However, starting in 2010, the plans became distorted with accelerated development, and many of the smaller schemes that sprung up deliberately sought to avoid the large infrastructure burdens carried by the legacy era developments.

“I am sure investigations with developers such as UPDC (Pinnock Beach), Trojan Estate, Aircom (Northern Foreshore), Cityscape (Buenavista), Howard Roarks (Lake View) and Octo5 (Ocean Bay) will reveal how they all spent huge sums providing infrastructure with zero support from the government while still paying punitive taxes.”

According to Odusolu, the government weaponised planning and titling for internally generated revenue, and that disincentivises compliance, leading to chaotic development.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Fame at Oyster & Co. Nigeria, Femi Oyedele, said most of the estates had layout plans that were not coordinated to form a planned city.

He noted that the communities that were not planned were the historic settlements that the government excised in the scheme.

“To do Lekki better, those estates which have been approved on the west and east arterial roads, which go down to Awoyaya on the east side and to Akodo on the west side of Lekki-Epe Expressway, must be demolished to make way for the planned roads.

“The kind of restoration done to Abuja by Nasir El’Rufai must be done in Lekki. Lekki Peninsular and Victoria Island have a population of over 3 million people. Glasgow has a population of less than 2 million people with twice the roads of Lekki Peninsula,” he enunciated.

•Undersea fibre cables linking Europe to Nigeria pass through construction corridor – ALTON, ATCON

Barely 48 hours after Multichoice alerted subscribers to a three-day technical downtime, telecommunication companies have expressed concern over possible connectivity disruptions as construction advances on the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

While the DStv and GOtv owner acknowledged the anticipated impact of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar construction project on their uplink facilities, telcos on Sunday expressed broader concerns emphasising the vital role of telecommunication service and the effect of possible anticipated technical disruption.

The Lagos-Calabar coastal highway corridor serves as a crucial landing point for multiple submarine cables connecting Nigeria to Europe

The cables, including the West Africa Cable System (WACS), MainOne, Glo1, ACE, and NCSCS, are vital for international communications and data transmission in the country.

The Federal Executive Council approved Phase One of the ambitious 700-km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project in February, entrusting the task to Hitech Construction Company Limited.

The highway project was designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom, before culminating in Cross River.

Meanwhile, the demolition of numerous properties and recreational centres in Lagos has been carried out to expedite the construction of the highway.

In light of the developments, telcos stressed the necessity of stakeholder consultations with the Ministry of Works to address potential risks and implement robust mitigation measures.

While dialogue with the Federal Government is yet to happen, telcos have warned Hitech Construction to exercise caution to prevent damage to critical national infrastructure.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, confirmed that the Ministry of Works had yet to engage the telcos on environmental impact assessment.

The ALTON chairman said the Ministry of Works, headed by David Umahi, had engaged some stakeholders but excluded the telecom operators.

“The Ministry of Works has not approached us, and I’m unsure if environmental impact assessments have been conducted. The route is crucial for the landing of numerous submarine cables, so caution is essential.

“Some members have reached out to them, urging caution. As the chairman of the industry, I can affirm that ALTON members were not consulted regarding the assessment of the undersea cable within that right of way,” he explained.

Adebayo revealed that some of its members had written to the works ministry on the matter over the need for a dialogue. He however said the body had yet to get any response.

He added that the Nigerian Communications Commission had been engaged to facilitate talks with the ministry.

“We’ve informed the Nigeria Communications Commission about this issue, and they are attempting to contact the Ministry of Works. However, I can confirm that neither we nor any of our members were contacted. This is on record. We were not included in the stakeholder consultations, and we’re concerned about the actions being taken.”

According to Adebayo, the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway corridor facilitates international traffic into the country, with so much risk involved if caution is not applied by the construction firm.

“There’s a significant risk involved, and I advise carefulness. Any destruction could lead to total disruption and severe economic consequences. Caution must be exercised to avoid damaging this critical economic infrastructure.”

In March, service disruption caused by cuts to the undersea cable supplying broadband Internet connectivity to Nigeria and countries in the West African sub-region forced many banks and other financial institutions, as well as telecom companies and allied firms, to scale down their operations.

Experts said the recent subsea cable cut, which disrupted connectivity in West Africa on March 14, 2024, could result in collective repair costs of about $8m for the four digital infrastructure companies affected.

The Chief Executive Officer of West Indian Ocean Cable Company, Chris Wood, said the four digital infrastructure companies affected could spend as much as $8m each to repair a single cable.

The affected cables include MainOne Cable, the West African Cable System, the African Coast to Europe submarine cable, and the SAT3 subsea cable systems.

Wood highlighted that each affected cable firm might need to allocate between $1m and $2m for the complete restoration of a single subsea cable, depending on the severity of the damage incurred.

The WIOCC CEO stated, “It is not a few $100,000. It is several millions of dollars, maybe $1m to $2m per cable, depending on how long it takes the ship to find the cable and repair it.

“Maybe slightly more than that. And those costs are borne by the cable owners themselves. It is a cost that we will factor into our businesses because these things do happen.

“I can’t say exact figures because it depends on the nature of the cuts and how long it takes to repair them, but when you look at the four systems together, it is several $1m.”

According to Wood, it will cost Africa $1bn to lay new cable that will connect from Europe, connecting multiple African countries, including Nigeria.

He noted that it would take at least 10 years to design the project and finish building, noting that the cost would be huge.

“So, it is not a simple thing to say, right? Let’s lay more cables because ultimately somebody has to pay that billion dollars, and eventually it is the end user. So, there has to be a commercial justification for spending that kind of money.

According to the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Tony Emoekpere, the ongoing construction work is yet to get close to the areas where the undersea cables and fibre cables are located.

However, he said it was crucial to recognise that all submarine cables to Lagos are situated along that coastal line.

“Discussions will ensure that the ongoing construction won’t affect them, with plans in place to prevent any disruption. Nobody will allow anything to happen without precautions.

“I spoke with someone this week who mentioned this. Concerns will naturally arise, and ongoing interactions will address them as the risk is significant. These are sensitive issues, and measures will be taken to ensure services aren’t disrupted along that line,” he added.

A few weeks ago, ALTON and ATCON jointly issued a statement expressing worries over wilful vandalism and theft as well as other challenges affecting the growth of the sector.

They requested the protection of assets and network infrastructure and urged the federal government to pass legislation that designates telecommunications infrastructure as critical national infrastructure.

Telecommunications infrastructure undoubtedly plays a pivotal role in national security and socioeconomic growth, especially as the country currently contends with multiple security challenges that require urgent and immediate actions in response to these threats.

“Attacks on cell towers, fibre optic cables, and other critical assets disrupt telecommunications services and result in significant financial losses for operators,” telcos lamented.

The telecom sector has been grappling with economic challenges that have significantly increased their operating costs, a situation that has dwindled appetite for investments.

Investment in the sector decreased by 70.5 per cent to $134m in 2023 from $456.8m in the corresponding year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Last week, the ALTON chairman mentioned that telcos were becoming reluctant to invest more in infrastructure as they continued to contend with a tough economic environment.

Adebayo stated, “If you don’t invest in a sector, you can’t talk about quality of service; you can’t talk about right pricing. The government must help, and the time is now.”

He drew a comparison with the energy sector, where a lack of investment in infrastructure had led to decrepit substations and outdated transformers, some of which are 25–30 years old.

“When the people in the energy sector came, they licenced the DisCos; they sold them those companies and all of that, and everybody thought that would solve the problem. The answer is ‘no’ because when the DisCos came, they didn’t invest in infrastructure.

“We don’t want to come to a time where the telecom sector becomes like that. We need to continue to put the right policies and regulations in place to attract investment. It is only when we attract investment that we can demand a minimum level of performance,” he emphasised.

No fewer than 13 lives, 130 vehicles and an unspecified number of houses have been destroyed in separate gas tanker explosions that occurred in Rivers, Osun and Delta States in the last seven days.

DAILY POST reports that tanker explosions have been consistent in the country, leading to loss of several lives and properties.

The recent occurrences have raised concerns amongst stakeholders who are calling for a better method of transporting all petroleum products across the country.

Recall that on Friday last week, April 27, a tanker conveying Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol, burnt motorists and commuters beyond recognition and destroyed at least 120 vehicles in Rivers State.

Five unlucky persons, including a pregnant woman, were killed in the unfortunate incident.

The incident occurred between the Indorama Petro-Chemical Company Gate and the Aleto Bridge on the popular and ever busy Eleme section of the East-West Road now undergoing major reconstruction by the Federal Government.

Barely 12 hours after the Rivers incident, a gas tanker exploded in Ita-Osin, Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday, April 29, killing one person, while about five others were seriously injured.

The incident which also left five vehicles burnt, occurred following a suspected brake failure, after which the tanker rammed into the road culvert and went up in flames.

According to the spokesperson of the Ogun State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Florence Okpe, the deceased was suspected to be the motorboy of the gas-laden tanker.

On Friday, May 4, about eight persons were killed in a petroleum tanker explosion at Ometan-Okpe community along the Effurun-Sapele Road in Okpe local government area of Delta State.

DAILY POST gathered that a breastfeeding mother and her three-month-old baby were among the casualties.

It was learnt that the breastfeeding mother was burnt to death while trying to rescue her baby who was trapped in the inferno.

Sources at the incident also disclosed that a 16-year-old secondary school girl and her mother who were trapped in their apartment also died in the fire incident.

DAILY POST gathered that the incident occurred on Friday when the ill-fated tanker coming from Effurun reportedly lost control while overtaking another truck a few metres away from the boundary bridge between Uvwie and Okpe Local Government Area.

According to eyewitnesses, the front part of the oil tanker suddenly detached from the rear compartment while on motion, leading to an explosion.

All buildings within the accident scene were razed. Some residents who were trapped in the building were also burnt to death.

Speaking with DAILY POST on Saturday, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Edafe Bright confirmed that about eight bodies were recovered from the incident scene.

He said, “The head of the tanker pulled off from the body of the truck, the vehicle fell and went up in flames, leading to the major accident that claimed those lives.

“About seven houses, five shops, including POS shops, were burnt down.

“Four vehicles, including car, truck were all destroyed by the inferno.”

Governors, FG move to end incessant gas explosions

The 36 governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum on April 28 said discussions were advancing among them and strategic federal agencies in the oil and gas industry in a bid to adopt safer methods of transportation of petroleum products across the country.

The forum’s Chairman, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq gave the hint at the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt, when he visited to commiserate with Governor Siminalayi Fubara, over the incident.

AbdulRazaq said, “We also spoke with the Head of the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency, and there will be a review of some laws.

“There will also be engagement between the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency and state agencies in terms of ensuring health and safety on these issues.

“As you know, Nigeria relies a lot, virtually, on pipelines for the movement of petroleum products, and we need to strengthen regulations in that sector, and also emphasise on improving and expanding pipelines for the transportation of products as well.”

Similarly, the Federal Government vowed to stop granting licences to gas companies with no capacity to build pipelines for gas distribution.

This was communicated by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Gas, Ekperikpe Ekpo, when he visited Abeokuta for an on-the-spot assessment of the explosion at Ita Oshin.

According to the Minister, the development became imperative to discourage the transportation of compressed natural gas through the roads.

“I have directed the authority chief executive that for any further issuance of licence, the company should be competent enough to pipe it to their end users so that we are not exposed to this kind of danger any longer.

“As a ministry, we are looking at how we can reduce a lot of virtual conveyance of gas.

“That is why we are putting much in developing the gas pipeline infrastructure so that the transportation would not be virtual, but rather through the pipelines. This will reduce this kind of incident and take off the pressure on our roads”, he said.

Meanwhile a retired officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Danjuma Alkali told DAILY POST on Saturday that the best way to stop the ugly occurrence was to ban night travels.

According to him, most of the incidents occurred due to “inability of drivers to have enough rest at night”, stressing “the incidents either happened in the night or when the drivers were totally exhausted”.

According to him, if there was a piece of legislation declaring an outright ban on night travels, the FRSC would be in a position to curb vehicles, whether big or small, travelling at night.

“Even before the recent incidents, statistics had shown that most of the crashes happen at night.

“For instance, a driver will want to go to Lagos and he takes off from Ilorin or Lokoja by 5pm; does a person get to Lagos before it becomes very late?

“If the federal lawmakers can come up with a piece of legislation to ban night travel, that will assist both the law enforcement agencies and other citizens.

“Banning night travels will put an end to some of these issues we face as a country, including insecurity.

“The federal government, in its wisdom, created tanker parks all over the country so that when it is night, the drivers can pack and rest until the following day, yet, most of them still prefer travelling at night.

“Nigeria should discourage night journeys because when articulated vehicles, especially fuel tankers, break down at night, drivers of such vehicles tend to abandon them on the road without any sign of caution and this has caused several incidents,” he stated.

The Naira depreciated by N130 against the United States dollar at the parallel foreign exchange market on Sunday.

A Bureau De Change operator, Mistila Dayyabu, disclosed this in an interview.

He noted that Naira dropped to N1,420 per dollar from N1,290 in less than 48 hours at the parallel market.

“The Naira depreciated to N1,420 per dollar on Sunday at the parallel market due to high demand. We buy at N1,410 per dollar and sell at N1420 as of Sunday. It was N1290 per dollar on Friday,” told DAILY POST.

Recalls that the Naira appreciated at both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets on Friday.

The Naira has continued to experience fluctuations in foreign exchange despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s interventions.

From March 26th to April 26th, 2024, the apex bank released FX thrice to Bureau De Change operators.

Financial expert Kalu Aja said CBN’s intervention was the reason for the appreciation of the Naira from March to mid-April 2024.