The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Nigeria’s Back-to-Farm initiative

    Nigeria’s Back-to-Farm initiative

    • By Felix Oladeji

    Sir: Speaking at the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Vice President Kashim Shettima highlighted the federal government’s Back-to-Farm initiative as part of Nigeria’s strategy for restoring agricultural livelihoods and strengthening food security. The programme was framed as evidence of Nigeria’s commitment to rural recovery and sustainable development. Yet beyond the symbolism of international visibility lies a more urgent responsibility: translating policy promises into measurable improvements for displaced farmers at home.

    The Back-to-Farm initiative seeks to provide displaced farmers with agricultural inputs, access to capital, and institutional support to enable their return to productive farming. Coming amid rising food inflation, insecurity, and widespread displacement, the programme represents a necessary intervention in a long-running crisis that has weakened Nigeria’s food systems and deepened rural poverty. In many conflict-affected regions, abandoned farmlands, disrupted supply chains, and reduced yields have become defining features of everyday life.

    Under the initiative, beneficiaries are expected to receive seedlings, farm tools, mechanisation support, and access to credit facilities. On paper, this promises a pathway from dependency to self-reliance. However, Nigeria’s history of agricultural interventions urges caution. From the Green Revolution of the 1970s to more recent schemes, many well-intentioned programmes have faltered due to weak implementation, corruption, and poor monitoring. If Back-to-Farm is to succeed, it must break decisively from this legacy.

    Accountability must therefore be central to the programme’s design. Transparent beneficiary selection, community-based oversight, and independent evaluation mechanisms are essential. Without these safeguards, the initiative risks becoming another politically convenient announcement that delivers limited tangible impact.

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    Equally important is market integration. Increased production alone does not guarantee improved livelihoods. Farmers must be connected to reliable markets, storage facilities, transport networks, and agro-processing hubs. Without such linkages, surplus produce may rot while rural incomes stagnate. The initiative must therefore be embedded within broader value-chain development strategies that ensure farmers can secure fair and stable returns on their labour.

    Technology and extension services also have a critical role to play. Digital platforms can provide real-time information on weather patterns, pricing trends, and best farming practices. Revitalising agricultural extension systems will help smallholders adapt to climate variability and improve productivity. These investments are not luxuries; they are prerequisites for sustainable rural transformation.

    Security remains a foundational condition. Farmers will not return to their lands if they remain exposed to violence and extortion. Thus, Back-to-Farm must be complemented by credible security reforms that prioritise rural protection, community policing, and justice delivery. Agricultural recovery cannot thrive in an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness.

    Financing will further determine the programme’s longevity. While government funding is essential, strategic partnerships with private investors, development agencies, and financial institutions can expand the initiative’s reach. Blended finance models, microcredit schemes, and results-based grants can help transform short-term assistance into long-term resilience.

    Beyond economics, the initiative represents an affirmation of dignity. Farming in Nigeria is not merely an occupation; it is a cultural inheritance and a social anchor. Restoring displaced farmers to productive land is an act of national reconstruction. It signals that rural citizens matter, that development is not confined to urban centres and that food producers are central to national prosperity.

    However, inclusion must be intentional. Women and youth, who form the backbone of agricultural labour, often face structural barriers in access to land and credit. If Back-to-Farm is to fulfil its promise, it must deliberately integrate these groups into decision-making and resource allocation processes.

    By presenting the initiative at Davos, the Nigerian government has elevated agricultural recovery to the level of global performance. This visibility brings opportunity for investment, partnerships, and technical support but it also brings obligation. International audiences will measure Nigeria not by speeches but by outcomes. Failure to deliver will erode credibility; success will enhance trust.

    Ultimately, the initiative can become a cornerstone of Nigeria’s food security strategy if it is anchored in accountability, institutional coherence, and local participation. Seed distribution and credit access must be matched by governance reforms, security improvements, and market development. Only through such an integrated approach can agriculture become both a means of survival and a driver of inclusive growth.

    •Felix Oladeji,

    Lagos.

  • Kano killing and the menace of drugs abuse

    Kano killing and the menace of drugs abuse

    • By Ibrahim Mustapha

    Sir: The brutal murder of 35-year-old housewife, Fatima Abubakar, and her six children in Dorayi Charanci quarters, Kano State, is one tragedy Nigerians should never become numb to. Yet, like many violent crimes before it, the shock will fade, the outrage will cool, and life will move on—until the next horrific headline reminds us that something is deeply broken in our society.

    This was not just a crime; it was a reflection of our collective failure; a failure of values, of institutions, of families, and of a system that continues to abandon its youths to poverty, idleness, and drug addiction. No rational human being—no matter how angry or provoked—can slaughter innocent children in cold blood. Acts of such savagery are often committed by minds already destroyed by hard drugs and hopelessness.

    Drug abuse has quietly become one of the most dangerous fuels of violent crime in Nigeria. Across cities and rural communities, many young people roam the streets without jobs, skills, or hope. In search of escape, they turn to drugs. Once intoxicated, conscience disappears, fear vanishes, and violence becomes easy. As the old saying goes, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop—and drugs provide the devil with tools.

    The arrest of suspects by the Kano State Police Command offers a glimmer of hope. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. If found guilty, the perpetrators must face the full wrath of the law. Anything less would send a dangerous message that human life is cheap. However, even the harshest punishment cannot heal the wounds left behind. The pain of a father who lost his wife and six children will linger for a lifetime.

    Sadly, this is not an isolated case. From Kano to Kaduna, Lagos to Port Harcourt, stories of defenceless Nigerians murdered in cold blood are becoming disturbingly common. Only last year, a nurse from Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Zaria was followed home, robbed, and hacked to death after closing from work.

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    These killings share a familiar pattern: desperation, drugs, and moral collapse. While security agencies deserve commendation for their efforts under difficult conditions, policing alone cannot solve this crisis. Guns and handcuffs cannot cure addiction, unemployment, or broken homes. The roots of the problem run much deeper.

    Unemployment remains a major trigger. Millions of young Nigerians wake up every day with no jobs, no income, and no clear future. Frustration pushes many into drug abuse, and drugs push them into crime. Weak parental supervision, erosion of moral values, and easy access to illicit substances have only made matters worse.

    The solution must therefore be comprehensive. Prevention is key. Drug-abuse education should be mainstreamed in schools, religious centres, and community forums. The media must go beyond reporting crimes to consistently exposing the dangers of drug addiction. When youths understand the consequences, many can still be saved. Empowerment is equally critical. Governments at all levels must prioritise job creation, vocational training, and entrepreneurship support. Sports, arts, and creative programmes should be revived to productively engage young people and redirect their energies.

    At the enforcement level, agencies like the NDLEA must be better equipped to disrupt drug trafficking networks. Dealers and suppliers should face severe penalties. However, youths already trapped in addiction need rehabilitation, counselling, and reintegration—not just prison sentences that harden them further.

    Communities cannot afford to stand aside. Parents, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth organisations, and civil society groups must reclaim their role as moral gatekeepers. Drug abuse is not only a government problem; it is a societal one. The killing of Fatima Abubakar and her six children should not be remembered as just another tragic statistic. It should serve as a wake-up call. If Nigeria truly wants to end the cycle of violence, it must confront drug abuse, youth unemployment, and moral decay with urgency and sincerity.

    Until then, more innocent lives will be lost—and we will all share the blame.

    •Ibrahim Mustapha,

     Pambegua, Kaduna State.

  • How ideological vacuum fosters unchecked power

    How ideological vacuum fosters unchecked power

    • By Samuel Akpobome Orovwuje

    Hans J. Morgenthau warned in Politics Among Nations (1948) that politics is a struggle for power guided by interest. Power, he argued, does not restrain itself; it must be limited by ideas, institutions, and moral purpose. Decades later, Randall G. Holcombe, writing on politics as exchange in Political Capitalism: How Economic and Political Power Is Made and Maintained (2018), described a system where political loyalty is traded for access, protection, and advantage. When ideas lose value, exchange replaces conviction.

    Together, these insights help explain Nigeria’s present condition. Power is expanding not because it is defended by clear beliefs, but because the political marketplace has thinned out. Ideas no longer compete; interests do. And where ideas retreat, power advances.

    This helps make sense of the recent wave of governors defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC). These moves are rarely explained in terms of policy disagreement or belief. They are framed instead around alignment and national interest. In practice, they reflect calculation in a system where federal power is concentrated and opposition looks uncertain. Party labels become temporary; access becomes permanent.

    Sadly, unchecked power thrives where opposition is weak. The APC’s growing dominance is less about persuasion than gravity. Control of federal power draws actors inward. In such a climate, survival replaces belief, and silence becomes strategy. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has struggled to counter this pull. Internal disputes, leadership uncertainty, and a lack of clear direction have weakened its standing. Indecision sends a signal: that loyalty is optional and the future unclear. When a party cannot say firmly what it stands for or where it is going, it loses the authority to ask members to stay and fight.

    Smaller parties and coalition efforts were expected to widen choice, but many have repeated the same mistake. The African Democratic Congress (ADC), often cited in coalition talks, illustrates the limits of alliances without shared purpose. Meetings and announcements create excitement, but without an agreed programme, leadership structure, and discipline, such coalitions remain fragile. They gather ambition, not agreement. Politics then becomes exchange in Holcombe’s sense: temporary arrangements driven by advantage rather than belief. These arrangements rarely last long enough to challenge entrenched power.

    The implications for the 2027 general elections are serious and immediate. First, the field of choice is narrowing. As defections continue and opposition weakens, voters risk facing elections with fewer real alternatives. Elections may still be competitive in form, but thin in substance. When parties sound alike and stand for little, voting becomes a ritual rather than a decision.

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    Second, incumbency advantage will deepen. With power concentrated and opposition fragmented, the ruling party’s reach into institutions, narratives, and resources will expand. This does not require overt abuse; imbalance alone shapes outcomes. Where competition is weak, accountability fades.

    Third, voter confidence is at risk. Nigerians have shown resilience and commitment to the ballot, even under difficult conditions. But confidence depends on belief that choices matter. When mandates are transferred through defections and coalitions dissolve before taking shape, citizens begin to feel side-lined. Turnout and trust suffer when politics appears closed.

    Fourth, politics will tilt further toward personalities and regions rather than programmes. Without ideology, campaigns rely on identity, fear, and short-term promises. This may mobilize support temporarily, but it weakens national cohesion and policy debate. Elections become louder, not clearer.

    Finally, institutions will feel the pressure. A weak opposition and dominant executive environment discourage robust legislative oversight and independent action. Even well-meaning officeholders become cautious when the cost of dissent is isolation. None of this is inevitable. But time matters. Rebuilding ideas takes longer than building coalitions of convenience. If parties wait until election season to define themselves, the damage will already be done.

    For 2027 to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy rather than hollow it out, several shifts are necessary. Defection must carry political cost, not reward. Opposition parties must settle disputes early and speak with clarity. Coalitions must be built around programmes and shared commitments, not announcements. And citizens must demand positions, not just promises.

    Morgenthau reminds us that power seeks expansion. Holcombe reminds us that politics without ideas becomes exchange for advantage. Nigeria today reflects both warnings. Democracy survives not because power exists, but because it is challenged. It thrives when ideas compete and citizens choose between real alternatives. If the political marketplace remains empty, power will continue to grow unchecked—and elections will decide offices, not direction.

     In the final analysis, the question before Nigeria as 2027 approaches is simple: will ideas return to politics, or will access continue to replace belief? The answer will shape not just the next election, but the character of the republic itself.

    •Orovwuje is public affairs analyst.

  • APC, where are the women?

    APC, where are the women?

    • By Ronke Bello

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is the ruling political party. It was founded as a result of strategic merger of several opposition parties on February 6, 2013. The party with its historic unseating of an incumbent president in 2015, retaining the presidency with the election of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in 2023, and for the fact of enjoying good leadership under the steady and experienced hands of politicians, technocrats and academics of good reputes, most recently the well respected and erudite Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, the current national chairman, without doubt is far becoming one of Africa’s most formidable parties.

    By design or default, the APC has been able to draw into its fold even states earlier held by opposition parties, a feat that has turned into an allegation from some quarters that the present government is deliberately turning our beloved nation into a one party system. This allegation seems not to steer any hornet nest as the response from the ruling APC fold has been dismissive. One may ask: apart from providing good governance and tangible developments, isn’t the major aim of any political party to win more followership? Or is the party apart from its core duties meant to headhunt and recruit members for the oppositions?

    While our great party has attempted to focus on governance, steer the ship of party steady and bring more members on board, the issue of gender balance sticks out like a sore thumb. Most recently, Nigerians and indeed the global community where astounded when the party again presented the all-male Committee on Strategy, Conflict Resolution and Mobilization to the leader of the party, President Bola Tinubu for inauguration. This is actually another blow where none of all the women in professional and grass root sectors of the APC could be found worthy for such committee.

    While respectfully acknowledging the decisions and supremacy of the party, the Terms of Reference of this particular committee speaks volume: “Strategy, Conflict Resolution and Mobilization”, so apart from the women of the party still short-changed in appointments, legislature duties, in states across the federation and the boring optics, the party believe that only men can strategize, resolve conflicts and mobilize? Very interesting!

    For the ruling party, the post mortem reports  by several local and foreign observers of the last 2023 elections especially a paper by The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2023) should be an attention-grabbing  note as it assert that “while  men have slightly more registered voters (around 52.5%) compared to women (around 47.5%) in Nigeria, studies and observations suggest women often show higher turnout and engagement in the actual act of voting, participating more actively in elections than men, despite their underrepresentation in political office. “

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    In all professions and activities, while I do not believe that women need to crawl and beg for participation we shouldn’t be equally ignored. Talent, skill, capacity, brain has no gender. On record, APC women in the last election went far and above all boundaries to get a win for the party. If the party now decides that women can’t serve in a good ratio in governance or party affairs, then we should certainly and respectfully shouldn’t serve in any singing , clapping or whining of  waists in future campaigns if that is the role the party envisages ahead for us.

    APC as a great, bold, winning and enlightening party should by now be an enviable example of what an encompassing political party should be across Africa and the globe. In 2026 many nations across the world are led by women and even oppositions are led by women too.

    Opposition parties even in Nigeria have found tangible roles for women as strategists, publicists, legal advisers, grass root mobilisers et al. Ours respectfully feel very comfortable with one gender and this on a lighter note reminds me of the 2023 elections when the APC was running helter-skelter looking for a woman that needed to urgently run into the TV stations to go head to head with a tough and well respected northern woman – activist.

    While one must recognize and praise some women in leadership and in the party that are constantly pushing for women beginning from Senator Remi Tinubu, our most respected First Lady who has been a huge flag bearer; Nigerian women still need to constantly drum it up to her so she won’t give up until Nigeria inches close or achieves her National Gender Policy (NGP) (2006) 35% affirmative action for women in governance. For now, a lot still need to be done.

    We must give kudos to Mary Idele Alile, the party women leader and Hajiya Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, the Deputy Women Leader who are equally pulling their weights with key initiatives centring on “the twinning formula” that aims to position women as deputy governors/chairpersons and advocating for reserved seats for Nigerian women in politics.

    Recently also, in a chance meeting with the amiable Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, our engagement reveals her undeniable passion and conviction on gender empowerment, inclusion, equality, women’s rights, protecting vulnerable groups, and advancing women’s leadership, as embedded in the Renewed Hope Agenda is not just infectious but one that resonates with global practices. She is a good ambassador!

    In the words of Hillary Clinton: “There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives. There cannot be true democracy unless all citizens are able to participate fully in the lives of their country.”

    The former president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in her own words further declares that “Our society needs women to be more numerous in decision-making positions and in entrepreneurial areas” and according to Melinda Gates“, in the developing world, it’s about time that women are on the agenda.”

    As our great party marches forward with heads high towards the next general elections which we can’t take for granted and which should be won convincingly on the tracking and measurements of our policy formations and implementation especially as promised Nigerians, the party would fare better in a gender balancing act in which the oppositions on a keen preview are currently taking the lead. Our party, the All Progressive Party cannot attempt to keep clapping with one hand.

    •Bello, Ph.D, is an academic, public policy analyst, publicist and author.

  • 2026 as a defining year

    2026 as a defining year

    • By Ooreoluwa O. Agbede

    By the time Nigerians cast their votes in 2027, many of the most decisive political battles would already have been fought and settled. That defining battleground is 2026.

    Although election day is still over a year away, 2026 will be a legally intense and politically consequential phase of Nigeria’s electoral cycle. It is the year of party primaries, strategic realignments, the calling in of political debts from the 2023 elections, nominations, resignations, defections, exclusions, substitutions, and, most significantly, pre-election litigation. These processes will ultimately determine the range of candidates that Nigerians will be able to choose from in 2027, often narrowing those choices long before a single vote is cast. In Nigerian electoral practice, elections are not won only at polling units; they are very often won or lost in party secretariats and courtrooms by the decisions the parties present to the populace.

    Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence has long settled this reality. The bulk of election disputes arise before election day, not after. The 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act impose strict timelines that compel most nomination-related conflicts to be resolved well ahead of the polls. Consequently, 2026 is the year politicians move from quiet calculations to full execution, by regrouping, rebranding, negotiating power blocs, consolidating party structures, and positioning themselves to secure party tickets for the 2027 general elections. In practical terms, it is the true testing ground of Nigeria’s democratic process.

    For political parties, the year will function as an operational stress test. The law places the burden squarely on parties to conduct credible primaries, lawfully screen aspirants, and submit only candidates who genuinely emerged from valid processes. Failures at this stage will not merely cause internal embarrassment; they are likely to trigger litigation across the country. Poorly handled screening exercises, opaque primaries, unlawful substitutions, or disregard for statutory timelines almost inevitably end up before the courts, except where aggrieved aspirants opt for calculated political settlements outside the judicial arena.

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    As party primaries draw closer, internal tensions will intensify. Disputes are expected over which party organ has the authority to conduct primaries, whether control rests with national or state structures, who controls delegate lists, and the influence wielded by financiers, political godfathers, and recent defectors. Parallel primaries and competing results will not be unusual. While courts traditionally regard party primaries as internal affairs, the law draws a firm boundary: once statutory safeguards are breached, judicial intervention becomes unavoidable. Courts will not impose candidates on parties, but they will enforce compliance with the law and party rules.

    The screening of aspirants is likely to be the earliest flashpoint. Aspirants excluded on grounds of zoning, perceived electability, or internal political calculations are unlikely to accept their fate quietly. Many will defect to rival parties, while others will seek judicial redress. In some cases, rival aspirants will institute actions to block defectors viewed as political threats, and there will also be instances where persons or groups lacking the requisite standing attempt to draw courts into the internal affairs of parties. Where screening processes lack transparency or fairness, parties should expect mass defections, parallel primaries, and multiple suits filed across jurisdictions.

    As we progress this year, the submission of candidates’ names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will open yet another wave of disputes. Once INEC publishes candidates’ particulars, scrutiny begins in earnest. Educational qualifications, discrepancies in names, allegations of forged certificates, age declarations, and citizenship status will dominate the legal landscape. Substitution of candidates, whether arising from withdrawal, disqualification, or political compromise, will also generate urgent litigation, particularly where statutory procedures or timelines are breached.

    The year will also witness a wave of resignations by political appointees seeking elective office. While the legal questions surrounding resignation appear straightforward, they are often deeply contentious in practice: when exactly must resignation occur, is it mandatory or merely directory, and what constitutes effective resignation? These issues will form the basis of eligibility challenges capable of derailing otherwise viable candidacies.

    The judicial approach in 2026 is expected to remain consistent. Courts will continue to discourage frivolous suits and internal party quarrels brought without legal foundation, but clear breaches of the constitution, the Electoral Act, or party guidelines will attract firm judicial sanctions. Outcomes will turn on evidence and strict compliance, not political sentiment or public sympathy.

    Pre-election matters must be filed within fourteen (14) days of the occurrence of the cause of action and concluded within one hundred and eighty (180) days, with appeals determined within sixty (60) days of commencement. These compressed timelines leave no room for procedural missteps and technical competence, speed, swift gathering of evidence and precision will determine success or failure, and losing track of time in 2026 may prove fatal to political ambition.

    By the time Nigerians vote in 2027, many outcomes will already have been shaped, if not conclusively determined, by the decisions, disputes, negotiations, and judgments of 2026. Party cohesion, candidate legitimacy, and electoral fortunes will all trace their roots back to this pre-election year. In Nigeria’s democracy, election day is not the first act. The real contest begins in the year before.

  • Sokoto: A journey in continuity

    Sokoto: A journey in continuity

    • By Mahmoud Bala

    One of the greatest tragedies of government transition in Nigeria is the abandonment of projects started by predecessors. This costly behaviour by incumbents across Nigeria has left evidence of wastage across every state. Some projects, started as far back as 1999, continue to deteriorate at the expense of the people they were meant to serve.

    It is therefore refreshing to see that some governors are beginning to think differently, and one of them is Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State. Unlike his predecessor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who clearly abandoned incomplete projects left behind by former governor and now Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Governor Aliyu has taken a different path. It is a path that prioritises the completion of inherited projects while also initiating new ones that respond to present needs.

    This approach is not just about governance style; it is about responsibility. It is about recognising that public funds do not belong to administrations but to the people, and that projects started in their name must be completed in their interest.

    Nothing perhaps illustrates this better than the revival and completion of key water works across Sokoto State. These water projects, initiated during Senator Wamakko’s administration and abandoned during Tambuwal’s tenure, had left Sokoto grappling with an acute water crisis that peaked painfully during those years. For a state capital, it was a humiliating reality that residents depended heavily on water vendors for survival.

    Under Governor Aliyu, that narrative has changed significantly. The completion and commissioning of the Tamaje Water Scheme, valued at over N14 billion, marked a turning point in urban water supply in Sokoto. Alongside this, other critical schemes such as the Old Airport Water Scheme, Gagi Water Scheme, Mana Water Scheme, Runjin Sambo Water Scheme and Rugar Liman Water Scheme have either been completed or brought back to life. Together, these facilities now deliver millions of gallons of potable water daily, drastically easing a crisis that once defined daily life in the state.

    As far as Governor Ahmed and the people of Sokoto are concerned, this approach is not just infrastructure at work; it is governance restoring dignity. This is because, water is one of the most essential needs of humanity. Therefore, when clean water flows again through public taps and households, it does more than quench thirst. It restores confidence in leadership and improves public health outcomes in ways statistics often fail to capture.

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    Housing is another sector where Governor Aliyu’s approach to continuity and expansion stands out. Several housing estates started under Senator Wamakko were abandoned midway, leaving skeletal structures as silent monuments to policy inconsistency. Rather than discard these efforts, the current administration chose to complete them, turning abandoned sites into liveable communities.

    Housing estates at Gidan Salanke and Wajake, each comprising 500 housing units, have either been completed and delivered to the people, or are at finishing stages. Beyond completing inherited projects, the government also initiated new housing schemes, including the 500-unit luxury housing estate at Sokoto New City. These developments respond directly to housing shortages and provide decent accommodation for civil servants and residents who have long struggled with limited options.

    Within Sokoto metropolis itself, road infrastructure has received focused attention. Roads that once symbolised neglect and congestion have been rehabilitated or newly constructed, giving the capital a more organised and functional outlook. Projects such as the Chima-Rai Jumu’at Mosque Road to Mabera Roundabout, the Unguwar Rogo Police Station Junction to Mabera Roundabout, and the Mabera Roundabout to Musa Lukuwa Jumu’at Mosque stretch along the Eastern Bypass, have significantly improved mobility, reduced flooding and eased daily movement for residents.

    Beyond these major links, numerous township roads across areas like Gawon Nama, Runjin Sambo, Low-Cost, Sahara, Remen Kura and surrounding neighbourhoods have been remodelled. The effect is unmistakable. Traffic flows better, commercial activity has picked up, and residents now experience a capital city that feels deliberately planned rather than accidentally grown.

    Complementing road construction is the ongoing urban beautification programme that is steadily redefining Sokoto’s visual identity. Governor Aliyu’s administration commenced the beautification of six major roundabouts within the metropolis, with three already completed and others at varying stages of completion. Roundabouts such as Rijiya Dorawa, Ahmadu Bello Way, Sama Road, Sokoto Guest Inn, Gidan Man Ada and the Old Market Roundabout are being redesigned to improve traffic coordination while enhancing the city’s aesthetic appeal.

    When stripped of sentiments, this initiative becomes much more than some cosmetic do-over. It places Sokoto on par with other state capitals across Nigeria, projecting order, pride and intentional urban planning. It is also about creating public spaces that reflect the importance of Sokoto as a historic and administrative capital.

    When all these interventions are taken together: water works, housing estates, roads and urban beautification, a pattern becomes clear. Governor Ahmed Aliyu is not merely reacting to immediate political pressures; he is deliberately consolidating past investments while expanding the state’s development footprint. In a country where abandoning a predecessor’s project has almost become doctrine, this approach stands out sharply.

    Sokoto today feels different because it is different. Water flows where scarcity once ruled. Roads connect where isolation once persisted. Housing stands where abandonment once mocked public hope. Roundabouts welcome visitors into a city rediscovering its pride.

    Under Governor Ahmed Aliyu, Sokoto is not trapped in cycles of abandonment and restart. It is moving forward by completing what was started, correcting what was neglected and building what is necessary. That deliberate choice, more than anything else, is what defines leadership, and it is what is steadily rewriting the story of the development of Sokoto as a city and the state as a whole.

    •Mahmoud writes from Sokoto.

  • Canada PM denies retracting Davos comments in talks with Trump

    Canada PM denies retracting Davos comments in talks with Trump

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday said he spoke to US President Donald Trump on Monday but denied he had retracted comments last week that irritated the American President.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Carney “was very aggressively walking back” some of the remarks he made during a speech in Davos in which he urged nations to accept the end of a rules-based global order.

    Asked by reporters whether he had walked back the comments, Carney said “No”.

    That contrasts with Bessent, who told Fox News that Carney was “aggressively walking back” his remarks during the call.

    While warning that the tariff would be “a disaster for Canada,” Bessent emphasised that the president’s recent conversation with Carney suggested a shift in tone from the Canadian leader.

    “I was in the Oval (Office) with the president today. He spoke to Prime Minister Carney, who was very aggressively walking back some of the unfortunate remarks he made at Davos,” Bessent said.

    Carney said Trump phoned him on Monday and they had a “very good conversation” that touched on Ukraine, Venezuela and Arctic security. He stressed that his message to the president was consistent with the one he delivered in Switzerland last week.

    “To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa.

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    “Canada was the first country to understand the change in U.S. trade policy that he initiated, and we’re responding to that. We’re responding positively by building partnerships abroad, building at home and prepared to respond positively by building that new relationship with CUSMA. He understood that.”

    CUSMA is the acronym often used by Canadian officials for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal Trump agreed to during his first term.

    In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Carney declared the international rules based order a “fiction” that is now effectively dead, urging mid sized nations to build new systems of cooperation and resist economic coercion by aggressive superpowers.

    Carney said he walked Trump through Canada’s push to diversify trade — “12 new deals, four continents, in six months” — including Ottawa’s new tariff-relief deal with China and the opportunity to advance USMCA

    “This is the context of our discussion: what Canada is doing positively to build new partnerships around the world,” he said.

    Trump threatened 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods on Saturday if Canada “makes a deal with China.” Carney has emphasized that Canada is not seeking a free-trade deal with Beijing and the recent agreement is focused on lowering certain tariff barriers.

  • ‘Iran’s crackdown on protests killed more than 6,000’

    ‘Iran’s crackdown on protests killed more than 6,000’

    About 6,126 people were killed during the Iranian regime’s crackdown on nationwide protests, and more than 41,800 were arrested, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said  yesterday.

    It added that the true death toll may be higher as monitors have struggled to assess the extent of the crackdown due to an internet blackout in Iran.

    Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has killed at least 6,126 people while many others still are feared dead, activists said yesterday, as a US aircraft carrier group arrived in the Middle East to lead any American military response to the crisis. Iran’s currency, the rial, meanwhile fell to a record low of 1.5 million to $1.

    The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and guided missile destroyers accompanying it provide the US the ability to strike Iran, particularly as Gulf Arab states have signalled they want to stay out of any attack despite hosting American military personnel.

    Two Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East have signalled their willingness to launch new attacks, likely trying to back Iran after US President Donald Trump threatened military action over the killing of peaceful protesters or Tehran launching mass executions in the wake of the demonstrations.

    Iran has repeatedly threatened to drag the region into a war, though its air defence and military are still reeling after the June war launched by Israel against the country. But the pressure on its economy may spark new unrest as everyday goods slowly go out of reach of its people.

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     yesterday’s new figures came from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in multiple rounds of unrest in Iran.

    The group verifies each death with a network of activists on the ground in Iran.

    It identified the dead as including at least 5,777 protesters, 214 government-affiliated forces, 86 children and 49 civilians who weren’t demonstrating. The crackdown has seen over 41,800 arrests, it added.

    Monitors and human rights groups have struggled to assess the death toll given authorities cutting off the internet and disrupting calls into the Islamic Republic.

    Iran’s government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labelled the rest “terrorists”. In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

    That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    The protests in Iran began on December 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran’s theocracy, the scale of which is only starting to become clear as the country has faced more than two weeks of internet blackout – the most comprehensive in its history.

    Iran’s UN ambassador told a UN Security Council meeting late Monday that Trump’s repeated threats to use military force against the country “are neither ambiguous nor misinterpreted”. Amir Saeid Iravani also repeated allegations that the US leader incited violence by “armed terrorist groups” supported by the United States and Israel, but gave no evidence to support his claims.

    Iranian state media has tried to accuse forces abroad for the protests as the theocracy remains broadly unable to address the country’s ailing economy, which is still squeezed by international sanctions, particularly over its nuclear programme.

     Already, Iran has vastly limited its subsidised currency rates to cut down on corruption. It also has offered the equivalent of $7 a month to most people in the country to cover rising costs. However, Iran’s people have seen the rial fall from 32,000 to $1 just a decade ago – which has devoured the value of their savings.

  • African nations now send more money to China

    African nations now send more money to China

    • They receive less in new loans

    China’s role as a leading financier to developing nations has shifted over the past decade, with new loans to poorer countries falling sharply while debt repayments continue to rise, according to analysis released by ONE Data.

    The inaugural report by the ONE Data initiative found that many low- and middle-income countries — particularly in Africa — are now transferring more funds to China in debt payments than they receive in fresh financing from the world’s second-largest economy.

    The swing has coincided with a surge in net financing from multilateral institutions, which have become the main source of development finance globally once debt-service outflows are taken into account.

    Multilateral lenders increased net financing by 124% over the past decade and now provide 56% of net flows, equivalent to $379 billion between 2020 and 2024, the analysis found.

    “The fact that there’s less lending coming in, but that previous lending from China still needs to be serviced — that’s the source of the outflows,” said David McNair, executive director at ONE Data.

    Africa has experienced the most dramatic reversal in Chinese finance. It went from receiving $30 billion to paying out $22 billion, a $52 billion swing.

    Africa has experienced the most dramatic reversal in Chinese finance. It went from receiving $30 billion to paying out $22 billion, a $52 billion swing.

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    In 2020-24, the most recent period for which data is available, Africa saw the largest impact, with an inflow of $30 billion in 2015-19 turning to an outflow of $22 billion.

    The data does not include cuts that took effect in 2025. The closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development last year and a drop in allocations from other developed countries has already hit developing economies, especially in Africa.

    Once 2025 data becomes available, it is likely to show a large drop in Official Development Assistance flows, said McNair.

    He said the trend was “a net negative” for African nations, as many governments face difficulties funding public services and investment – but would at the same time promote domestic accountability as governments rely less on external financing.

    The report also highlighted a ⁠broader decline in bilateral finance flows and private external debt – also trends likely to be exacerbated by aid cuts from 2025 onwards.

    Meanwhile, a separate piece of research suggests China’s overseas deal-making activity rebounded in 2025, according to a report published by the Griffith Asia Institute.

  • Sudan’s army breaks siege of southern city

    Sudan’s army breaks siege of southern city

    • Survivors report hunger, death

    Sudan’s army says it has broken a long siege of the southern city of al-Dalanj by RSF paramilitary forces, during which survivors said many people were killed in drone and artillery strikes as hunger spread and medicines became scarce.

    One survivor told Reuters that residents had been reduced to eating leaves and animal skin, and that some children had died of hunger. Others said people had died because they could not get the medicines they needed or leave to get treatment.

    The siege of al-Dalanj began soon after war broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It intensified after the RSF joined forces last year with the SPLM-N, a rebel group that controls territory in the region.

    In a statement released late on Monday, the Sudanese army said “the armed forces and supporting forces were able to forcibly and decisively open the road to Al-Dalanj, after carrying out a successful military operation.”

    The RSF did not respond to a request for comment on the army statement. Residents of al-Dalanj reported heavy drone attacks  yesterday.

    The victory, if sustained could signal a momentum shift after several RSF gains late last year.

    Al-Dalanj is one of the largest cities in oil-producing South Kordofan province on Sudan’s southern border. Greater Kordofan has become the latest centre of fighting since the RSF captured al-Fashir, the army’s last holdout in the western Darfur region, in October.

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    More than 25,000 people have been displaced from South Kordofan since then, according to the UN’s human rights office.

    During a visit to Sudan last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned Sudanese and RSF officials to ensure that “crimes” committed during and after the takeover of al-Fashir “are not repeated” in South Kordofan, according to a statement.

    Residents who fled al-Dalanj before Monday described witnessing drone and artillery attacks, echoing accounts from al-Fashir during the RSF siege. Reuters was unable immediately to confirm their accounts.

    “We left because of the hunger and humiliation,” said Haja Bahareldin, who spoke to Reuters with other women sheltering in a camp outside the city of al-Obeid to the north. “We couldn’t find work… we couldn’t find food.”

    She said one of her children died of hunger along the way and her two twins died after her arrival.

    “Now I have no small child to carry in my arms,” she said.

    The Kordofan towns of al-Obeid and Kadugli have also been the scene of intense recent fighting. In Kadugli, while drone attacks have eased in recent days, the siege has caused sky-high prices and a scarcity of medicine as doctors flee along with others who can afford to, aid workers say.

    In November, Kadugli was declared by international monitors to be in famine. International experts said al-Dalanj was likely to be experiencing the same, though the siege made data-gathering impossible.

    Tambula Silia, another woman from al-Dalanj, said residents of the city had been reduced to eating leaves and animal skin and added: “For four or five months I didn’t have a single piece of bread for me or my child.”

    Zakia Ramadan, who said she fled to al-Dalanj from the nearby town of Habila after the RSF took it, said four of her children had died of hunger while sheltering there.

    Salma Mohamed, a resident of al-Dalanj, told Reuters it had been impossible to get her father out of the city when he needed a heart operation.

    “We had to roam around until he died, we didn’t find a way to get him treatment,” she said.

    Those who do manage to flee face a dangerous journey, also mirroring the stories of those who fled al-Fashir. Silia said that, among those who fled with her from al-Dalanj, “some were taken by the RSF and we don’t know where to.”