By Dakuku Peterside The main threat to Nigerian democracy is no longer a lack of understanding of elections but the growing doubt that elections matter. What is often labelled voter apathy is actually a rational response. When citizens believe their votes matter, hope drives them; when manipulation seems possible, disengagement follows—not from disdain for democracy,…
By Seun Ibiyemi FirstHoldCo Plc has opened the 2026 financial year with a powerful rebound, posting a 72 per cent year-on-year increase in profit before tax to N321 billion in the first quarter of 2026 from N186.47 billion in the corresponding period of 2025. The performance marks a significant turning point for the financial services…
On Friday, May 1, 2026, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the August 15 election, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, unveiled his manifesto, setting out what he described as a “pact” with the people of Osun. In this report, YUSUF BABALOLA examine how the APC flagbearer aims to steer the state away…
By Seun Ibiyemi The transformation of water transportation in Lagos is increasingly tied to the leadership approach of Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, whose tenure as General Manager of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) reflects a shift from regulatory inertia to proactive system-building. At the core of Emmanuel’s strategy is a deliberate repositioning of waterways as a…
By Dakuku Peterside On the evening of March 16, 2026, as families in Maiduguri prepared to eat their evening meal, a series of coordinated suicide bombings ripped through the city. The attacks struck the Monday Market axis, the post office corridor, the entrance to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and the Kaleri area, leaving…
By Seun Ibiyemi Even as Nigeria’s food inflation rate eased sharply in February, millions of households continue to face acute hunger and food insecurity, a stark reminder that headline price data does not always reflect the daily struggles of ordinary Nigerians. According to the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), food inflation…
By Seun Ibiyemi Nigeria’s decision to power the Aso Rock Presidential Villa with its own solar energy system marks a symbolic and potentially transformative moment for the nation’s beleaguered electricity sector. While the move has drawn praise for its environmental foresight, it also lays bare deep structural problems in the country’s energy supply and carries…
By Dakuku Peterside Political violence never truly arrives unannounced. Before it explodes, it rehearses itself in smaller scenes: a rally disrupted, a convoy attacked, a party office torched at dawn, a polling agent killed for refusing to surrender a vote. Nigeria is hearing those rehearsals again. In recent days, gunmen invaded an ADC event in…
By Chika Chukwudi Author of Blue Economy: Gateway to a Sustainable Future and a Staff of the (Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA) At a time when Nigeria is urgently seeking sustainable pathways to economic stability, poverty reduction, and mass job creation, it has become increasingly clear that the nation must rethink its development…
By Seun Ibiyemi First HoldCo Plc has announced its unaudited results for the year ended December 31, 2025, reporting resilient core earnings growth amid elevated impairment charges and regulatory costs. The Group posted gross earnings of N3.4 trillion, representing a 4.8 per cent year-on-year increase, while profit after tax settled at N44.98 billion. Profit before…
