The Development Report

Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on politicians in Kwara State to put political disagreements behind them after contests, arguing that electoral competition should not become a lasting source of division.

Speaking in Ilorin during the conferment of the Sardauna of Ilorin title on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Shettima pointed to President Bola Tinubu’s post-2023 reconciliation with northern political figures who had opposed his presidential bid as an example of the approach he wants politicians in Kwara to adopt.

The appeal comes as political activity builds towards the 2027 elections and follows disagreements within the Kwara chapter of the All Progressives Congress after its governorship primary.

Shettima said political office is temporary and urged public officials to approach leadership with humility, responsibility and a commitment to service.

Beyond the political message, his visit also highlighted two areas directly linked to development: jobs and public revenue.

The Vice President inaugurated Kwara’s garment factory, which has a projected capacity of about 4,000 jobs at full operation, as well as the state’s 11-storey Revenue Service House.

The projects bring the conversation back to what political leadership ultimately means for citizens: creating opportunities, strengthening institutions and improving the capacity of government to deliver services.

As political competition intensifies, the challenge for leaders will be to ensure that disagreements do not overshadow the development priorities facing communities.

The Dangote Refinery’s public offering is putting a different question on the table: beyond buying products from Nigerian companies, can more Nigerians become owners of the businesses driving the economy?

Peter Obi, the 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, has urged Nigerians to consider investing in the ongoing Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO. He also called on other Nigerian businesses to open their ownership structures to the public through share offerings.

The refinery IPO opened on September 14, offering 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 each. The minimum subscription is 10 shares, worth ₦5,250, while the offer is scheduled to close on October 13. The offer is open to retail, institutional and eligible African investors.

For Nigeria’s development, the significance goes beyond one refinery.

Public offerings can create avenues for citizens to participate in the ownership of productive businesses, while companies can raise capital for expansion and growth.

Obi’s intervention has therefore revived the conversation around a Nigerian economy where citizens are not only consumers of locally produced goods, but also participants in the ownership of enterprises creating jobs, building industries and expanding productive capacity.

The question now is whether more Nigerian businesses will follow this path.

A dispute over Anambra State’s finances has intensified after former Governor Peter Obi and the state government presented sharply different accounts of the liabilities left at the end of his administration.

Obi maintains that his government cleared more than ₦35 billion in historical gratuities and arrears and left office without outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractor payments. He has also disputed claims surrounding an ecological fund, saying more than ₦2.13 billion remained untouched for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis.

The Anambra State Government disputes this account. Commissioner for Information Law Mefor said the state is still dealing with liabilities from previous administrations and has challenged Obi’s description of the account he identified as an ecological fund. The government says its records do not show the ₦2.13 billion balance he cited.

The Presidency has now entered the dispute, with Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga challenging Obi to honour his pledge to leave the 2027 presidential race if his account of Anambra’s finances is disproved.

At the heart of the controversy is an issue that goes beyond political campaigns: how should governments document, disclose and independently verify public debts, savings and liabilities when power changes hands?

For citizens, the most important outcome should be clarity, supported by official financial records, audited accounts and verifiable evidence.

Public finances should outlive political administrations, and so should the records that explain how public money was borrowed, spent, saved and transferred.

Nigeria’s petrol market faces a challenge that goes beyond the pump price: the price difference between Nigeria and neighbouring countries is creating an incentive to move fuel across the borders.

Speaking on Arise TV, Aliko Dangote said petrol sells for significantly more in some neighbouring countries, with differences of about 30–50 per cent compared with Nigeria.

According to Dangote, the price gap makes it financially attractive for traders to divert petrol intended for the Nigerian market and sell it across the border.

He cited Niger as an example, saying petrol there could sell for about 20–25 per cent more than in Nigeria.

The wider concern is what happens when fuel meant for domestic consumers becomes more profitable to sell outside the country.

Cross-border smuggling can affect the availability of products in local markets, complicate efforts to manage domestic supply and undermine the benefits of increased local refining.

Dangote also warned that the ongoing Middle East crisis could create another challenge for energy markets, shifting attention from price to availability.

He assured Nigerians that the Dangote refinery would continue supplying the domestic market and said there would be no shortage from its operations.

His comments come as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals IPO opens on the Nigerian Exchange, offering 4.1 billion shares at ₦525 each. The offer, valued at ₦2.15 trillion, is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.

Nigeria's evolving downstream sector now faces a bigger development question:

Can stronger domestic refining, effective border controls and sustainable pricing help keep more of the country's fuel supply within the domestic economy?

The answer will have implications for consumers, businesses, government revenue and Nigeria's energy security.

As political activity builds ahead of the 2027 Oyo State governorship election, Allied Peoples Movement (APM) candidate Abimbola Adekanmbi is seeking to draw a clear line between his candidacy and Governor Seyi Makinde.

Adekanmbi, a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, said during an Arise News interview that he would not serve as a surrogate for the incumbent governor if elected.

He said he has developed his own manifesto and governing strategy and would take responsibility for the decisions made under his administration.

Adekanmbi also addressed questions surrounding the emergence of APM candidates for the 2027 elections. He said the process involved consultations, public engagements and contributions from different sectors and regions of Oyo State, rather than being decided solely by Makinde.

His comments come against the backdrop of the political relationship between Makinde's camp and the APM. In May, APM adopted Adekanmbi as its consensus governorship candidate, while other reports have documented his previous role in the Makinde administration.

Adekanmbi's latest position is that voters should distinguish between his previous political association and the agenda he intends to pursue if elected.

As the 2027 contest approaches, issues of political independence, policy direction, accountability and the transition of leadership are likely to remain central to discussions about Oyo State's future.

Aliko Dangote has spent 36 years in the same home and says he is in no hurry to leave.

The billionaire shared the detail during an interview with ARISE News while discussing his lifestyle, business and views on wealth.

But beyond his personal choice, Dangote used the conversation to raise a bigger issue about the role of private wealth in Africa’s development.

He questioned the growing appetite among some wealthy Africans for expensive assets such as private jets without corresponding investments in productive businesses.

His concern is simple: wealth that only funds consumption does little to expand an economy.

Dangote said his focus is on building productive capacity and supporting Africa’s industrialisation. He also pointed to growing foreign interest in the continent, saying investors need large-scale projects capable of attracting substantial capital.

For Africa, this is an important development conversation.

The continent needs investment that can turn raw materials into finished products, expand manufacturing, strengthen local supply chains and create decent jobs.

That means the impact of private capital can extend far beyond the individual who owns it.

As African economies pursue industrialisation and seek to create opportunities for a growing population, the question is no longer simply how much wealth is being created.

It is also about what that wealth is helping Africa build.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Government to release approved funds to Nigeria’s regional development commissions as part of efforts to accelerate development across the country.

The directive was announced at the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) Summit in Abuja, where stakeholders unveiled a 20-year development plan focused on transforming the region’s infrastructure, economy and human capital.

Representing the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, said the commissions would receive the political and financial support needed to drive major development projects.

But Tinubu also urged the commissions to look beyond government funding by attracting private investment, donor support and development financing.

For the North Central, the proposed priorities include improved rail and air transport, industrialisation, security, education, healthcare, investment and skills development.

Nasarawa State Governor and Chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum, Abdullahi Sule, stressed that the region must move beyond exporting raw materials.

His message was clear: if minerals are extracted in the North Central, more of them should also be processed there.

With its agricultural and mineral wealth, the region has significant potential for job creation, local industries and stronger economic value chains.

The challenge now is turning the 20-year vision into measurable results and ensuring development reaches the people and communities that need it most.

For young people in Kaduna South, access to technology could soon become less of a barrier to education, examinations and skills development.

Senator Sunday Katung, representing Kaduna South Senatorial District, is overseeing the construction of a 700-capacity ICT and Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre in Zonkwa, Zangon Kataf LGA.

The project is designed to give students and young people greater access to computers, digital learning and technology-based skills needed in today’s economy.

Beyond serving as a CBT centre for examinations conducted by bodies such as JAMB and WAEC, the facility is expected to function as a hub for digital learning, innovation and youth skills development across the district’s eight local government areas.

The project also highlights an important development challenge: digital inclusion is no longer a luxury.

As education, employment, examinations and entrepreneurship increasingly move online, young people without reliable access to computers and digital resources risk being left behind.

During an inspection of the project, Katung expressed satisfaction with its progress but charged the contractors to maintain the required standards and deliver within the agreed 12-month time frame.

For constituency projects to create lasting impact, however, construction is only the beginning. The real measure will be whether the completed centre remains accessible, functional and useful to the young people it is intended to serve.

Bridging the digital divide means building infrastructure and ensuring people have the opportunity to use it to learn, compete and build better futures.

Nigeria’s long-running university funding crisis has once again put the government’s fuel subsidy reforms under scrutiny.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on President Bola Tinubu to explain how resources freed by the removal of the petrol subsidy have been used, following renewed concerns from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over unresolved obligations and agreements.

Atiku argues that Nigerians were asked to endure higher living costs on the promise that subsidy savings would be redirected towards critical areas such as education, healthcare, infrastructure and social protection.

His question is straightforward: if government revenues and allocations have increased since subsidy removal, why are public universities still struggling with funding, infrastructure and labour disputes?

The renewed ASUU concerns have raised fears of another disruption to the academic calendar, adding pressure to a university system already dealing with inadequate classrooms, laboratories, hostels and other essential facilities.

Atiku also criticised the government’s student loan approach, arguing that rising education and living costs are placing additional pressure on families.

Beyond the political exchange, the issue raises a bigger development question:

How can Nigeria build a competitive economy and prepare its growing youth population if access to quality higher education remains unstable?

Subsidy reform cannot be measured only by how much government saves or collects. Nigerians also need to see the development outcomes of those reforms.

Sometimes, the impact of a leader is measured not only by the position they hold, but by the lives they help shape along the way.

As Prof. Ayodeji Olawunmi Badejo begins her tenure as the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), a former staff member, Dr Rebecca Uduakobong Adesiyan, has shared a deeply personal story of how Badejo’s kindness and mentorship influenced her journey.

Adesiyan, now a Lecturer II at Landmark University, recalled working as Badejo’s secretary at LASU’s Ikoyi Campus in the early 2000s, when she held an OND in Secretarial Administration.

She remembers more than professional guidance. She recalls being cared for, encouraged and supported at crucial moments including Badejo making sure she had breakfast before they headed to work.

When Adesiyan was transferred from the Ikoyi Campus, Badejo reportedly intervened on her behalf, helping her remain at the location where she had recently resumed.

Years later, Adesiyan went on to spend 19 years at Covenant University, earn a PhD in English Literature, and transition into academia.

Her story is a reminder that mentorship can create opportunities that outlive the moment. Small acts of encouragement, advocacy and genuine care can influence a person's confidence, career and approach to others.

As she congratulates Badejo on her new appointment, Adesiyan describes her as a “destiny helper” whose lessons continue to shape the way she works and relates with people.

Leadership is not only about reaching the top. It is also about helping others find their way there.