The Nigerian banking sector is, by most superficial readings, having a complex quarter. Several listed banks have announced FY2025 results that include no final dividends. Reported Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratios at operating-company level have moved upward across multiple institutions. Share prices have, in some cases, softened in the immediate aftermath of recent announcements. The financial press has, predictably, treated each of these as a separate problem. For investors who read the sector through that lens, the next few weeks will look uncomfortable. For those who read it as a deliberate sector recalibration, the next few weeks will look like the…
Author: Editor
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will offer a total of N650 billion in Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) at its auction scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, 2026, marking the second issuance for the month under the Federal Government’s second-quarter borrowing programme. The planned issuance was contained in an official tender notice released by the apex bank on behalf of the Debt Management Office (DMO), with bids required to be submitted by the same date. The exercise forms part of the government’s domestic borrowing strategy aimed at financing short-term obligations, managing liquidity in the financial system, and supporting fiscal operations in…
The government of Togo has abolished entry visa requirements for all African citizens holding valid national passports, a move aimed at strengthening continental integration and facilitating easier movement across Africa. The decision was announced on Monday, May 18, 2026, in an official communiqué issued by the country’s Ministry of Security and signed by Security Minister Calixte Batossie Madjoulba. According to the Togolese government, the new policy underscores the country’s commitment to African integration, the free movement of people and goods, and deeper cooperation among African nations and citizens. The visa exemption took immediate effect on May 18, 2026. Authorities said…
In Nigeria’s North-West, particularly Katsina State, the struggle to establish security lies in balancing dialogue and deterrence. Governor Radda’s administration has focused on managing this balance to achieve lasting stability. For over a decade, communities in Batsari, Jibia, Safana, Danmusa, Faskari, and Kankara faced persistent armed banditry. Villages were destroyed, schools closed, and farmland abandoned. The December 2020 abduction of hundreds of students in Kankara became a defining moment of crisis. When Governor Dikko Umar Radda took office in May 2023, he confronted not just insecurity, but a community traumatized by years of violence. His challenge: restore security without militarizing…
The Interim Committee of the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN), Northwest University Sokoto (NWUS) branch, has been formally constituted, marking a key step toward the full operational take-off of the association within the institution’s Faculty of Law. The committee has commended the Founder of NWUS, Sen. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, for what it described as a “transformational act of student welfare support” following his decision to shoulder the transport fare of all law students to and from their hostels. Officials of the association, who paid a courtesy visit to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Mukhtar Umar Bunza, on…
The FCT chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has conducted a membership verification and revalidation exercise. The exercise took place over the weekend at the guild’s national secretariat in Abuja. The in-person process was designed to sanitise the guild’s membership database, eliminate “ghost members,” and migrate all records to the AGN Super App, a digital database platform. The two-day exercise attracted Nollywood actors from across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In an interview with Ashenews on the sidelines, Chairman of the Screening Committee, Agility Onwurah, said the exercise was in compliance with directives from the national leadership of…
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has called for increased public vigilance against Lassa fever. In a post on his official X account, Abayomi emphasised that although the state has recorded only a few cases so far, the disease remains a major public health threat across Nigeria. He noted that rapid medical intervention and effective isolation measures had helped prevent community transmission in Lagos, but stressed that sustained awareness and preventive practices remain essential. “While Lassa fever is a major public health challenge across Nigeria, Lagos has seen only a few cases. Thanks to swift medical action,…
I want to believe Allah (SWT) brought me back to read my scorecard. He does that whenever He wants. All the more reason to forgive those who transgressed against you and seek forgiveness from those you have hurt. Importantly, to continue doing the good things one has been doing for humanity, as Dr Imdad of Al Shifa Hospital told me. And this was why He answered the prayers of the multitude of people who interceded with Him on my behalf. People, some I knew, many I never knew from Adam. There were prayers in the National Mosque in Abuja, in…
President Bola Tinubu has confirmed the killing of Abu-Bilal Al-Manuki, also known as Abu-Mainok, a senior leader of the Islamic State (ISIS), during a joint counter-terrorism operation carried out by Nigerian and United States forces in the Lake Chad Basin. In a statement issued from the State House on Saturday, Tinubu described the operation as a major example of effective international collaboration in the fight against terrorism. According to the president, the overnight operation was conducted by the Nigerian Armed Forces in close coordination with the United States Armed Forces. “Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed…
The late Muhammadu Buhari wrested power from Goodluck Jonathan in a never-before-seen political upset of an incumbent in Nigeria precisely because of the northern establishment’s strategic coalition with the Southwest political establishment led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And Tinubu is president today because of the North’s requital, sort of, for Tinubu’s gesture. I qualify the requital with “sort of” because Muhammadu Buhari, the chief beneficiary of the coalition, along with a significant number of the cabal that puppeteered him, didn’t want Tinubu to be president. That was the spark for Tinubu’s famously impassioned “Emi lo kan” speech in Abeokuta. However,…