When a billionaire suddenly becomes an overnight anti-corruption crusader, one should pause. Not because activism is wrong, but because power rarely moves without an agenda. In Nigeria’s oil sector—where money, regulation, and influence intersect—nothing happens in isolation. I was drawn into this debate long before the current drama peaked. In July 2024, during the first public clash between Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Engr. Farouk Ahmed of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), I wrote an article titled “Monopolistic Oligarchies: The Tale of Dangote of Nigeria and Ambani of India.” In it, I defended indigenous industrial growth while…
Author: Editor
As mentioned in the first part of this piece, government officials and others questioning the university’s autonomy are either ignorant of the law or being mischievous. The university must be an autonomous system to fulfill its fundamental role in nation-building and to preserve the integrity of its certificates, which are awarded to deserving graduates for character and learning after passing through qualitative, quantitative, and temporal measures validated by internal and external assessors. Tamper with the autonomy, as allegedly done in Nigerian private universities, and the degrees may be awarded like “a gift of groundnuts.” What irony! Nation-building through innovation, good governance,…
The Vice-Chancellor of Northwest University, Sokoto (NWUS), Professor Mukhtar Umar Bunza, has said the institution was established to bridge Nigeria’s educational gap, particularly in the Northwest region. Professor Bunza, a Professor of Social History, made this known on Monday while receiving members of the Sokoto Advancement Forum (SAF), who paid an advocacy visit to the university. According to him, NWUS was founded by former Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, with a clear vision to address knowledge deficits in the region and beyond. “NWUS was established to bridge the knowledge gap. It is important to note that the…
Former Minister of Communications and ex-General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (retd.), has expressed deep sorrow over the death of former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Soyemi Ayodele Sofoluwe (retd.). Sofoluwe died on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at the age of 80. He would have turned 81 on January 14, 2026. In a tribute issued on Monday, Olanrewaju described the late Sofoluwe as an exceptionally sharp-minded officer, a gentleman, and a people-oriented general who hailed from Abeokuta, Ogun State, in southwest Nigeria. According to Olanrewaju, the two…
United States President Donald Trump has ordered the recall of the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Richard M. Mills Jr., along with senior diplomats posted to 29 other countries, in a sweeping diplomatic reshuffle by his administration. The affected ambassadors have reportedly been informed that their assignments will end by January 2026. Many of them were appointed during the previous administration and had remained in office during the early phase of Trump’s return to power. U.S. officials explained that the recalls are part of efforts to realign America’s diplomatic representation abroad with the administration’s foreign policy priorities, stressing that ambassadors serve…
The BRICS economic bloc has accelerated efforts to diversify away from the United States dollar by deepening its reliance on gold as a strategic reserve asset, underscoring a broader push toward financial autonomy and reduced exposure to Western-dominated monetary systems. Recent data indicate that BRICS member states and aligned partners now collectively account for about half of global gold production, strengthening the bloc’s influence in the precious metals market. This growing control is driven by sustained increases in domestic mining output and aggressive gold purchases by central banks within the group. China and Russia have led the accumulation drive, steadily…
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has invited billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote to appear before its investigators in Abuja on Monday over a petition he filed against former Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ahmed Farouk. ASHENEWS recalls that the ICPC, shortly after it received Dangote’s petition, confirmed that it would duly investigate the corruption petition filed by Dangote against Farouk, citing its statutory mandate to probe allegations of abuse of office and financial impropriety. Dangote’s petition accuses Farouk of corruption, abuse of office, and misappropriation of public funds during his…
A constitutional law scholar, Prof. Auwalu H. Yadudu, has accused the Executive arm of government of unlawfully usurping the powers of the National Assembly (NASS) following alleged discrepancies between tax reform bills passed by the legislature and the versions published in the Official Gazette. In an article published by THISDAY, Prof. Yadudu argued that material differences between the tax laws approved by the National Assembly and those eventually gazetted amount to an exercise of legislative authority by executive fiat, which he said is unconstitutional and dangerous to Nigeria’s democratic order. According to him, once a bill has been duly passed…
Many things happened in Nigeria last week that will trend for a time. Among them were two weighty revelations, one of which led to two ‘juicy’ resignations. There was the revelation by Aisha Buhari, the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, that the former president began locking his door to keep her out of his room. Reason? That he heard Villa rumours that she wanted to kill him. An old General fearing the woman who has been married to him for over 30 years! The other was by Aliko Dangote, the richest Black man on Earth. He revealed that Farouk Ahmed,…
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for the immediate suspension of the tax laws signed by President Bola Tinubu, alleging that the final versions contain provisions that the National Assembly did not pass. The opposition party said the laws, which are scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2026, were allegedly altered after legislative approval, describing the action as a grave threat to constitutional governance and the principle of separation of powers. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC warned that tampering with legislation after passage by the National Assembly suggests an…