In a bold move to tackle rising transport costs, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko has assumed full responsibility for ferrying law students and staff to Northwest University Sokoto’s (NWUS) Wamakko Campus. NWUS Vice Chancellor, Professor Mukhtar Umar Bunza, announced the intervention today, effective immediately. It covers Faculty of Law members facing daily commutes amid fuel price hikes that have jacked up fares and eroded punctuality. Bunza highlighted how the support eases financial pressures, cuts absenteeism, and sharpens focus. Students, especially from modest backgrounds, have called it a game-changer for their studies. Wamakko, ex-Sokoto Governor and NWUS founder, continues championing education through…
Author: Editor
CBN Nigeria’s economic activity recorded its strongest momentum in nearly five years in December 2025, as the Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 57.6 points, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The PMI remained well above the 50-point benchmark that indicates expansion, reflecting sustained growth across key sectors of the economy. Data from the December PMI Survey showed that agriculture continued to lead the expansion with a reading of 58.5 points, while the industrial sector posted 57.0 points. The services sector also remained in positive territory at 51.9 points, pointing to broad-based improvements in business activity. The…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shared its economic plans for 2025. It shows a mix of hope and caution. The year ahead promises a slow but steady recovery after years of tough policies. But big growth numbers alone won’t fix poverty or improve lives for most people. The CBN expects Nigeria’s economy to grow by about 4% in real terms. This is better than the recent slow years. Other reports put it at 4.1% to 4.17%. This depends on oil reforms, freer foreign exchange rules, and stronger non-oil sectors. This growth shows that key changes are working. These…
On assuming office, President Bola Tinubu placed food security at the core of his administration’s agenda, framing it as both an economic necessity and a national security imperative. This priority informed his declaration of a state of emergency on food security in July 2023, a move officials say reshaped Nigeria’s agricultural strategy. The declaration shifted emphasis from policy debates to practical, on-the-ground initiatives aimed at boosting production, stabilising markets, and improving food access nationwide. Central to this shift is Nigeria’s partnership with Belarus to acquire 10,000 tractors over five years under the Belarus Agricultural Mechanisation Programme. Officials said the initiative…
As I was concluding this article last week, news broke of a significant milestone in the ASUU-FGN impasse: FGN and ASUU had signed a comprehensive agreement signaling the end of the 8-year ASUU industrial action. It was an impasse that cost billions of Naira in lost person-hours, unquantifiable economic losses, and, in some cases, the supreme price. The tragic case of a professor who was neck-deep in debt due to the imposed “no-work, no-pay” policy, watching the news on TV when it was announced that the “no-work, no-pay” policy would be sustained even after suspending the 2022 ASUU industrial action,…
This article was first published in December 2020. In light of recent U.S. airstrikes targeting terrorist groups linked to transnational extremist networks and the renewed focus on international counterterrorism efforts in Nigeria, I find this write-up highly relevant to current developments. God willing, next week we will continue the Trending Events Amidst Governor Buni’s Yobe Achievements series, which began last week. March 2020 was a sad one for Chad. There was an attack on its Bohoma army base by Boko Haram terrorists. They killed more than 92 Chadian soldiers in what army officials called the insurgents’ deadliest-ever attack on the nation’s forces.…
Time and again, we have harped on Nigeria’s past glory—when agriculture made the country economically viable through the use of hoes, cutlasses, and later oxen-driven ploughs, alongside livestock rearing and fishing in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, before the commercialization of petroleum. Those days are gone. We must realistically reappraise our current circumstances as a nation endowed with a large population, vast arable land, abundant groundwater, and a fairly substantial volume of seasonal and annual rainfall. By deploying sound science and technology, adopting veritable agricultural production methodologies, and ensuring security alongside critical infrastructure—such as access to credit, energy, transportation,…
The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Nigerian military authorities have formally validated the success of the Christmas Day counter-terrorism operation in Sokoto State, confirming that the midnight strikes delivered “precision hits” that neutralised multiple foreign-linked terrorists, sparing innocent civilians and livestock. The operation, conducted in the early hours of December 25, 2025, targeted the Lakurawa group, a Sahel-based terror cell described by U.S. officials as ISIS-linked fighters, which had established enclaves across border communities in Sokoto and Kebbi States. AFRICOM, in a statement, said the strikes were carried out under directives from the U.S. President and Secretary of Defense,…
Yuletide—encompassing Christmas and the surrounding period, with its festivities—is viewed by many as a season of warmth, love, and peace, with Christmas itself marking the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Yuletide is characterised by merriment, travel, recreation, charity and gatherings, among others, which promote social integration, peace and love. Yearly, many families buy foodstuffs and other commodities some months or weeks before Yuletide due to increases in the prices of such items, which often characterise the season. Increases in services, including transportation, also characterise the Yuletide season every year. ALSO READ Yuletide: Bishop Kukah urges Nigerians to choose…
A new terrorism study has confirmed the presence of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Sokoto State, signalling a significant expansion of the group’s operations beyond Nigeria’s North-East and the Lake Chad Basin. The study, conducted by James Barnett and Umar Musa and published by the Combating Terrorism Centre, found that Lakurawa militants operating in Sokoto are linked to the Islamic State’s Sahel Province (ISSP), which maintains operational ties with ISWAP. The findings attracted heightened attention following United States airstrikes early Friday on ISIS-linked targets in Sokoto, a location far removed from ISWAP’s traditional strongholds. ALSO READ Sokoto…