Having lived in the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in Gwada for over two years, Auta Bala is tired of idleness and living from hand to mouth — but she has learned to mask her sadness, burying it beneath her smile. The 13-year-old can often be found roaming around the camp joyfully, hopping from one […]
CONTINUE READING →Poor infrastructure in Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions has been a source of concern for decades — and this cuts across polytechnics, colleges of education and universities. It is one of the reasons the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently embarked on its 16th strike in 23 years. To determine the present state of things, […]
CONTINUE READING →When President Muhammadu Buhari declared ‘Decade of Gas’ in 2021, he promised that his administration will ensure that gas development is a national priority — to stimulate economic growth, further improve Nigeria’s energy mix and provide much-needed jobs for citizens. To buttress this point, the president delivered an ambitious speech at the opening plenary of […]
CONTINUE READING →BY OMOLOLA AFOLABI Like an orchestra that stopped at an intermission, Fatai Wasiu’s booming transport business ended abruptly in November 2020, following a tragic accident while taking a private trip on his motorbike. Before then, Wasiu had used a refurbished Peugeot 505 — a common means of transportation on the Saki-Okerete road — to convey […]
CONTINUE READING →A life disrupted. Normalcy abruptly aborted. A reality filled with uncertainties. Welcome to the everyday life of Nigerians whose existence has been upturned by bandits and kidnappers in northern Nigeria. Since 2013, thousands have abandoned their communities while over 1,000 schoolchildren have been abducted. Victims and survivors now live in fear, traumatised by the jarring […]
CONTINUE READING →When a group of heavily armed men invaded communities in Niger, many residents were forced to flee to Central Primary School, Gwada — a town in Shiroro LGA of the state. Azumi Markus is one of them — she once lived in Sabon Kabila in Munya LGA before she was pressured out of the village […]
CONTINUE READING →To investigate the working conditions of Nigerians employed at Chinese-run quarries in the Obafemi-Owode area of Ogun state, SODIQ OJUROUNGBE disguised as an agent to get into the premises, where he uncovered anomalies, ill-treatment and flagrant disregard for labour laws. Jacob Adeoti, who has worked at Ding Xing Quarry since 2016, once had a finger […]
CONTINUE READING →With 3,598 deaths recorded from 107,911 suspected cases, Nigeria lost more persons to cholera in 2021 than it has to COVID-19 since early 2020. But despite the startling statistic, communities worst hit by cholera are struggling to respond to the disease, mostly due to state and federal government’s failure to equip […]
CONTINUE READING →BY ABDULGANIYU ABDULRAHMAN AKANBI Engrossed with his phone, Bolaji Ayosade sat on an iron bench at a public spot in Taiwo Road, a bubbling metropolis in the heart of Ilorin, Kwara state capital, when this reporter tapped him gently. The undergraduate who was a beneficiary of the federal government’s special public works (SPW) […]
CONTINUE READING →Barefooted, 12-year-old Gabriel Mhilega runs around the unfloored family compound with his peers as he constantly adjusts his well-worn clothes. Intermittently, he scratches his skin, unbothered about the rashes that have settled on its surface. The schools have closed for holidays. Hence, Mhilega and his friends have more than enough time to play around […]
CONTINUE READING →