Author: damazah@gmail.com

Group Managing Director of United Bank for Africa and Chairman of the Body of Bank CEOs in Nigeria, Oliver Alawuba, has outlined a blueprint for building a resilient Nigerian economy, calling for deliberate policies and stronger collaboration across the public and private sectors to transform economic stability into inclusive prosperity. Alawuba made the call while delivering his goodwill speech at the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), held in Abuja on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Building a Resilient Economy in an Era of Disruptions:…

The wife of a US scholar imprisoned in China on charges of spying and endangering national security has asked President Donald Trump to secure his release when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House next week. U Min Zin, the director at a think tank focused on Myanmar, was arrested on 3 June after travelling to the Chinese city of Kunming for an academic conference. “I’m deeply hopeful that President Trump will raise my husband’s case with President Xi Jinping at the summit next week,” his wife, Sylvia Zin, testified to Congress on Wednesday.Xi is due to…

US President Donald Trump is seen aboard Air Force One checking a Kennedy Center large printout after landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on September 16, 2026. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty ImagesA new photo shows President Donald Trump eyeing a poster that appears to reference the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts being demolished, hours after he warned that the building “will end up being ripped down” if he is not properly recognized for his efforts to renovate it.Rep. Joyce Beatty, the Ohio Democrat battling Trump over his efforts to get his name affixed to the…

Meta’s “supreme court” has ordered the tech company to take down deepfake videos of a UK politician and a young Muslim woman from Facebook and do more to tackle AI-generated fake imagery.A fake video showing a Labour party councillor in Scotland making inflammatory comments about refugees should not have been left up by Facebook, the board said. It also ruled that an AI-generated video of a Muslim campaign volunteer should have been removed after it falsely depicted her offering health advice while carrying out absurd exercises or eating junk food.The board said Meta’s safeguards were “consistently and fundamentally inadequate” to…

On days like this, it’s not hard to be overwhelmed by existential futility. At the current rate of progress, the UK looks on course to wipe itself out far sooner than it would with any interference from AI. Everything feels hopeless. Years of minimal growth and a cost of living crisis. The tech bros and the bankers may be getting richer. The rest of us? Not so much.And there’s no end in sight. Andy Burnham may offer better vibes, but he is fighting a losing battle against global forces – wars, energy prices, borrowing costs – that he can’t control.…

The World Institute of Kimchi (President: Hae Choon Chang), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, announced that a lactic acid bacterium isolated from kimchi can help promote the removal of nanoplastics from the body by binding to them in the intestine. Nanoplastics are ultrafine plastic particles measuring less than 1 micrometer (μm; one-thousandth of a millimeter) that are generated during the degradation of larger plastic materials. These particles can enter the human body through food and drinking water. Due to their extremely small size, nanoplastics may cross the intestinal barrier and accumulate in organs such…

Hundreds of job applications, exhausting searches and relentless rejection – the experience of attempting to get back into the workforce after losing their jobs in their 50s and 60s has proved an ordeal for some Britons.For some, those efforts prove fruitless and lead jobseekers to reluctantly take early retirement. Others may have to rely on benefits to pay the bills while they continue to job hunt.Recent research by the Centre for Ageing Better found that the number of people between 50 and state pension age having difficulty finding work was 918,000 – akin to the number of young people not…

Femi Ogbonnikan Just as in the national arena, opposition parties and their candidates in Ogun State are wasting valuable time and resources on legal technicalities and ancestry claims to undermine their political opponents. Instead of addressing the state’s pressing socio-economic challenges, they are attempting to lock in election outcomes before a single vote is cast.Rather than presenting superior policy alternatives, their main campaign strategy relies on courtroom manoeuvres and sub-ethnic identity politics.​Particularly troubling is the persistent smear campaign currently directed at the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship frontrunner, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi. When prominent figures like…

The Federal High Court in Lagos has upheld the 30-day detention of Kazeem Michael Afolabi, popularly known as KC Luxury, over his alleged involvement in the trafficking of 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine. The trial judge Akintayo Aluko dismissed Mr Afolabi’s application challenging the detention order on Thursday. The court held that the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) relied on by his lawyer did not apply to the case. The court had on 20 August given the nod to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to keep Mr Afolabi in custody for 30 days while it…

The Dangote IPO highlights the changing role of market infrastructure and the ambition to broaden ownership across Nigeria and Africa Celestine Uchenna For decades, Nigerians have participated in economic growth primarily as consumers, employees and savers. The capital market offers another avenue: becoming shareholders in the businesses shaping the country’s economic future. The launch of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE Initial Public Offering (IPO) brings that possibility into sharper focus. Marketed as an ‘IPO for the People,’ the offer comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 per share, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares valued at N5,250.…