By Sabiu Abdullahi

Tony Attah, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Renaissance Africa Energy Company, has said about 100,000 Nigerians die every year because they do not have access to cleaner energy sources.

Attah spoke on Thursday at the Africa CEO Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda. He said the situation extends across the continent, where more than 400,000 deaths are linked to poor access to cleaner energy.

He stressed the importance of natural gas to Africa’s electricity sector and described cleaner energy as critical to improving living conditions across the continent.

“When you look in Nigeria, 100,000 people die every year from lack of access to cleaner energy. Just look at that poor woman who is trying to put food on the table, and she has to cook through the smoke, using poor quality fuels, walking in and out of that every day,” he said.

“Think about it. One child on the left, one on her right, one on her back. They go in day in (and) day out. That is where your 100,000 people come from. The overall number for Africa is more than 400,000.”

Attah said Africa should not accept such statistics despite its huge gas reserves.

“That’s not the narrative that you should feel proud of as an African, that’s not the narrative that you should feel proud of as somebody in the industry that says we have 620 tcf of gas that can provide life,” he said.

“Essentially, gas is life, and that’s how Africa has to see gas. And if we as producers see it that way, we now need to get that same logic to the minds of the leadership, because integration is what has to happen in Nigeria.”

The energy executive also urged African countries to invest in their own natural resources instead of relying heavily on foreign financiers.

According to him, Nigeria’s electricity supply remains inadequate for its population of more than 200 million people.

“If you look at Nigeria, we have over 200 million people. The total spinning reserves of electricity is under 20 gigawatt. And what is available for the population is about five. So 5,000 megawatt for 200 million people,” he said.

“Of course, there are millions of generators all over the place. But no economy can take off on the back of diesel generators. In the same vein, no economy should expect to take off on the balance sheet of others.”

Attah argued that Africa must reclaim financial resources tied up abroad if the continent hopes to fund its own development.

“So those $4-$5 trillion that Amaodu referenced, that is sitting elsewhere but belongs to Africa, has to come back, and that is how Africa will start to take centre stage in financing itself,” he said.

“You can’t keep expecting people to want to finance you and then you want to lead them or you want to stand up to them — you must be subservient if someone is financing you. As they say, who pays the piper dictates the tune.”

He further called for a shift from exporting raw gas to using the resource to create economic value within Africa.

Also speaking at the forum, Chairman of McKinsey Africa, Acha Leke, said Africa possesses about 10 per cent of the world’s proven gas reserves and could sustain production at current levels for another 70 years.

Despite this, he noted that only three per cent of gas produced on the continent is traded within Africa.

Leke said 34 per cent of African gas is exported outside the continent, while most of the gas consumed within Africa is concentrated in Algeria, Nigeria, Egypt and Libya.

According to him, the continent’s gas infrastructure was designed mainly for exports rather than for regional distribution and trade.

By Sabiu Abdullahi

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a nursing mother, Halima Haliru Umar, to 20 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges linked to terrorism and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Halima was arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) on a four-count charge. The court convicted her on two of the charges after she admitted guilt during proceedings.

Justice Hauwa Yilwa, who delivered the judgement on Friday, said the court was satisfied with the prosecution’s evidence and the defendant’s admission.

“The defendant, having admitted the facts of the offence as presented by the prosecution, the court is satisfied,” the judge said.

“She is accordingly convicted on counts three and four.”

The court handed Halima a 20-year jail term on count three and another one-year sentence on count four.

The judge fixed July 9 for continuation of trial on the remaining two charges, which the defendant denied.

Earlier, defence counsel Hamza Dantani appealed to the court for leniency. He described the convict as a first-time offender who had shown remorse.

Dantani also informed the court that Halima is a nursing mother and that her one-year-old child was arrested with her.

Counsel to the DSS, Caliatus Eze, told the court that the agency found no previous criminal record against the defendant.

Court documents identified Halima as a resident of Unguwan Boka in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. She was accused of attempting to aid terrorism by transporting 302 rounds of AK-47 ammunition between Barkin Ladi and Jos North local government areas of Plateau State.

While presenting evidence before the court, DSS operative Fahad Tahir explained that Halima was arrested in Plateau State on July 7, 2025, before she was moved to the DSS headquarters in Abuja for further investigation on August 11, 2025.

According to Tahir, investigators recovered ammunition, statements and other exhibits from the suspect.

“We received the defendant with the following items: 302 live rounds of ammunition; her voluntary confessional statement, written in Hausa and English; the statement of the arresting officer; the compact disc containing the audio-visual recording of her interview session, investigation report from the Plateau state command and the sum of N57,100,” Tahir told the court while giving evidence.

“After receiving the defendant and the items mentioned, we proceeded to conduct further investigation into the case by examining the items earlier mentioned and also interviewed the defendant, which was audio/visually recorded and in the presence of an official of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.”

The DSS operative further told the court that the suspect confessed that a man identified as Sani directed her movements before the arrest.

“In the course of the interview, she narrated how, on the 6th of July, 2025, one Sani instructed her to go to Zaria in Kaduna state to help him collect a message from someone,” he said.

“She said Sani gave her the sum of N50,000 for her travel expenses.”

Tahir said the defendant later travelled to Jos after receiving further instructions.

“She stated that, upon her arrival in Zaria, Sani further instructed her to proceed to Jos in Plateau state,” he added.

“On getting to Jos, Sani directed her to one Alhaji, who later handed over a waste bag containing 302 live ammunitions.”

According to him, security operatives arrested the suspect while she was returning with the ammunition.

“She stated that on her way back to Jos, she was arrested while being in possession of the 302 rounds of live ammunition,” Tahir said.

He also informed the court that the defendant gave her statement in Hausa because she could not speak English fluently.

“She volunteered her statement in the Hausa language, and it was interpreted by my colleague into the English language since she is illiterate in the English language,” he said.

“At the conclusion of our investigation, we wrote our investigation report and submitted it to the director.”

By Sabiu Abdullahi

Suspected terrorists have abducted an unspecified number of students from a school in Mussa village, located in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.

According to Reuters, the attack happened around 9 a.m. on Friday while lessons were in progress at Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School.

Residents told the news agency that the gunmen stormed the school and took away several students.

A teacher at the school said the attackers arrived on motorcycles before carrying out the abduction.

“Despite some students escaping into the bushes, I can tell you many were taken away,” the teacher said.

Midala Balami, the lawmaker representing Askira-Uba/Hawul Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, described the incident as disturbing and called for urgent action from security agencies.

Reuters quoted the lawmaker as describing the attack as “heartbreaking”.

As of the time this report was filed, neither the Borno State Police Command nor the military had issued an official statement on the incident.

School attacks and mass abductions have continued to pose serious security concerns in parts of northern Nigeria in recent years, with armed groups often targeting students for ransom.

In November last year, at least 303 students were kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, located in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State.

That same month, gunmen also attacked Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, where 25 students were abducted.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

A major crack has emerged within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sabon Gari Federal Constituency as aspirant Mahmud Sadis Buba has publicly rejected the endorsement of incumbent lawmaker Sadiq Ango Abdullahi as the party’s consensus candidate.

Buba, a 30-year-old popular politician in Zaria also known as Abin Al-Aljabin Zazzau, dismissed the arrangement as an “endorsement,” not a consensus, insisting that he was not consulted as a fellow aspirant.

The controversy began on Wednesday when the chairman of Sabon Gari local government area and ALGON chairman in Kaduna State, Hon. Jamilu Abubakar Albani, issued a statement claiming that APC stakeholders had met and endorsed Sadiq Ango as the constituency’s consensus candidate.

But in a reaction on Thursday night, speaking through his personal assistant and secretary, Alhassan Sani, Buba said: “Consensus is where all contestants or aspirants step down for one person. There was nothing like that. There was no consensus in the Sabon Gari federal constituency seat. It was an endorsement, not a consensus.”

Buba, who has already purchased his nomination forms, declared that he is fully prepared for the APC direct primary scheduled for Friday.

“We are fully prepared to go into direct primaries on Friday, and the people of Sabon Gari will vote for us massively,” he said.

As both factions stand their ground, tensions are mounting in the constituency ahead of the party’s primary election.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday called on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to approach the party’s primary elections as brothers and sisters, urging winners to show humility and losers to demonstrate sportsmanship.

In a statewide address released by the State House, Tinubu described the primaries — beginning Friday with House of Representatives aspirants and culminating in the presidential primaries on May 25, 2026 — as “a referendum on our unity, resilience and strength as a party.”

The President, who is also the leader of the APC, reminded party members that the party was founded on “progressive politics, consensus democracy, and personal devotion and sacrifice.” He praised ongoing efforts by leaders at various levels to produce consensus candidates, describing dialogue as “a commendable option that would help in reducing rancour and bad blood.”

Where consensus fails, Tinubu urged all participants to keep the peace. “In every contest, there will be a winner and a loser,” he said. “The ultimate winners are those who don’t choose to wreck the boat but rather work to prepare for another round. Our opponents are waiting for us to be against each other; we should disappoint them.”

The President directed party leadership, governors, and other stakeholders to rise above sentiment and provide a level playing field. He also appealed for special consideration to be given to women and youth aspirants, saying their inclusion is “dear to my heart.”

Security agencies, particularly the Police, were instructed to remain professional and avoid acting as interlopers, with their role strictly limited to ensuring peaceful conduct.

“Politics should never be a zero-sum game,” Tinubu added. “Any candidate that wins does so for all of us as a party.”

The primaries mark the APC’s fourth election cycle since its founding.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

Abubakar Malami SAN, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has officially submitted his governorship nomination and expression of interest forms at the National Secretariat of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abuja.

The former minister, who confirmed the submission through his office, described the move as the formal launch of what citizens in Kebbi State are calling “Operation Rescue” — an effort to pull the state out of deepening insecurity, economic paralysis, collapsing public schools, crumbling healthcare facilities, and rising despair.

According to a statement issued by Mohammed Bello Doka, Special Assistant on Media to Malami SAN, the former AGF submitted the forms in full compliance with ADC’s party guidelines. The announcement has since triggered an overwhelming wave of excitement across Kebbi, where residents have grown weary of leadership failure, the statement said.

Malami, who served eight years at the federal level, positioned himself not as an ordinary politician but as a tested national leader ready to deploy strategic competence to restore security, revive agriculture, rebuild infrastructure, and return hope to the people of Kebbi.

The ADC platform, he affirmed, represents a rising political force rooted in accountability, inclusion, and development. His candidacy, the statement added, offers a formidable alternative to a status quo that has left over sixty-seven percent of school-age children out of school, farmers displaced by banditry, and maternal deaths needlessly soaring.

The former minister has since commenced intensive consultations across all local government areas to perfect the rescue agenda.

“The people of Kebbi are no longer waiting for relief that never comes; the rescue has officially begun,” the statement read. “Every citizen who desires an end to leadership failure is hereby called to join this movement to reclaim Kebbi State from the brink of total collapse.”

By Uzair Adam

An Abuja High Court on Thursday ordered the remand of a cleric, Amos Isah, over allegations of defiling a minor, pending the verification of an earlier bail granted to him.

Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi directed that Isah, who is the founder and General Overseer of Prophetic Voice of Fire Ministry International in Gwagwalada, be held at the Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Kuje, Federal Capital Territory.

The prosecution alleged that the cleric lured a 14-year-old girl to his office within the church premises, where the offence was committed.

According to the prosecution, the charges contravene Sections 3, 4, and 14 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.

The court gave the remand order after the defendant pleaded not guilty to an eight-count charge bordering on defilement.

Isah was initially arrested in June 2025 and arraigned on July 22, 2025, before a vacation judge, Justice J.E. Obanor, at a High Court in Maitama, where he also pleaded not guilty.

The case was later reassigned to Justice Osho-Adebiyi on March 11 following an application by the prosecution counsel, Aderonke Imana.

At the resumed hearing, the defence counsel, O.U. Sule (SAN), informed the court that his client had earlier been granted bail by another court.

However, Justice Osho-Adebiyi noted that no record of the bail or details of the sureties had been presented.

“His record of surety is not before the court; if I tell him to go, who am I releasing him to?” the judge queried.

Sule urged the court to release the defendant on self-recognition, but the request was declined.

He subsequently made an oral application for bail, which was opposed by the prosecution counsel, who cited engagement in another court proceeding.

The judge further observed that neither the sureties nor their documentation were before the court, making it difficult to consider the request.

“The defendant is hereby remanded in the correctional centre pending his bail determination,” Justice Osho-Adebiyi ruled.

The court directed the defence to notify the registrar once all necessary bail documents are ready and adjourned the matter until June 30 for the commencement of trial.

Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The growing wave of unemployment across Nigeria has become a national emergency. As factories shut down and skilled workers idle away, one pressing question divides opinion: Is the unemployment crisis a failure of governance or a reflection of national weakness?

In Kaduna State alone, once-thriving industrial giants have gone under. They include:

1· Kaduna Textile Limited (KTL)

2· Arewa Textiles Nigeria Limited

3· Finetex Nigeria, Kaduna

4· Supertex Nigeria Limited

5· United Nigerian Textiles Limited (UNTL)

6· Nortex Textile, Kaduna

7· Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN)

8· Kaduna Aluminum Limited

9· New Nigerian Newspapers

All these companies are no longer in operation — a stark testament to decades of decline.

Key factors fueling the crisis:

Power supply collapse: Unreliable electricity has crippled production, forcing many manufacturers to fold under high operating costs from diesel generators.

Lack of government support: There has been insufficient credit, tax relief, or infrastructure support for small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

Policy inconsistency: Frequent changes in import, export, and labour policies discourage long-term investment.

Neglect of industrial zones: Many industrial layouts lack roads, security, and drainage, making revival unattractive.

So who is to blame?

Government’s role: Critics argue that successive administrations have failed to provide stable electricity, access to loans, or a business-friendly environment. The collapse of Kaduna’s textile sector, once the pride of northern Nigeria, is often cited as proof of official neglect.

National weakness (Al’ummar kasa): Others point to a culture of dependency, low productivity, poor maintenance habits, and corruption in both public and private sectors. They argue that even when policies improve, implementation fails due to weak civic responsibility and skill gaps.

The unemployment crisis is neither purely a government problem nor entirely a national failing — it is a vicious cycle. Poor governance weakens national capacity, and a weak national character (e.g., lack of accountability) makes good governance difficult. Breaking the cycle requires urgent action on electricity, industrial policy, and a reorientation of citizens toward productivity and accountability.

Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini can be reached via abdulalgasqaini@gmail.com

By Isyaka Laminu Badamasi

As political parties in the country gear up to conduct primary elections in preparation for the 2027 general elections, they should ensure strict adherence to the laid-down procedures put in place by electoral acts and those of their parties to avoid further internal wranglings and legal tussles that will ultimately harm the party’s chances of winning the election or maintaining victory in courts. 

The process adopted by some political parties in some states for selecting the party’s flag bearers for different posts exposes how stakeholders underestimate voters’ power by fielding candidates who are far below the electorate’s goodwill and requirements for winning elections. 

The electoral acts recognise only two processes that political parties can follow in conducting primary elections: direct primaries, which allow party card-carrying members to elect their candidates, or consensus, which allows contestants to withdraw their contests and announce their support for one person among themselves. 

As seen in many states that adopt the consensus process in selecting their candidates and the issues that followed so far, it is clear that stakeholders neglect the powers of voters by anointing persons with questionable political values as their preferred candidates without considering the legal implications of such decisions (remember Zamfara state) or the electoral values of the persons they selected.

If public acceptance and popularity are the selling points of any politician, then some candidates do not possess the qualities of a counsellor, but present themselves as gubernatorial aspirants, either because they can afford the nomination forms and want to trend and remain relevant in the scheme of things or because they are playing a deceitful game in the event of joining the negotiations table.

While appealing for a peaceful conduct of free and fair process from the remaining political parties that are yet to conduct their primaries, they should also be mindful of the people they will present for elections, as winning elections do not limited to the platform (political party), it is about goodwill, clear and practicable manifesto and the electoral values of the persons they presented as their flag bearers. 

To the electorate, they should ensure their voter cards are accessible. To those who do not possess the ‘electoral weapon’, the third phase of the Continued Voter Registration (CVR) will commence today, Monday, 11th May 2026, and end on Friday, 10th July 2026. During this period, eligible citizens who have reached the age of 18, as well as those who were unable to register in earlier phases, should seize this opportunity to do so.

We at the Initiatives for Sustainable Development (I4SD) are committed to ensuring free, fair and peaceful conduct of the 2027 general elections in the country. 

Isyaka Laminu Badamasi is of No 555, Ajiya Adamu Road, Bauchi, Bauchi State.

By Sabiu Abdullahi

A Kano-based lecturer, Malam Mubarak Ibrahim Lawan, has criticised political leaders in Northern Nigeria over the security and socio-economic problems facing the region.

In a Facebook post shared on Wednesday, Lawan accused governors, senators and members of the House of Representatives of failing to address the plight of the people despite recurring cases of killings and insecurity.

“All the problems facing Northern Nigeria were caused by corrupt governors, senators and representatives! No matter what happens, none of them cares!” he wrote.

The lecturer lamented what he described as the lack of accountability among political office holders, alleging that repeated killings across the region are often treated lightly by leaders.

“One hundred people are killed, seventy are killed, fifty are killed, even if one thousand people are killed, to them it is only a mistake,” he stated.

Lawan also alleged that politicians react more strongly when they are criticised by citizens, especially young people, than when lives are lost.

“But if a young person insults a governor, senator or representative even once, that is not considered a mistake. And the young person must be punished,” he added.

He further accused public officials of prioritising personal interests above public welfare.

“They only care about themselves and protecting their pockets! May God bring improvement!” the post concluded.

The remarks have attracted reactions on social media, with users debating the state of governance and insecurity in Northern Nigeria.