Veteran Nigerian actor Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, popularly known as Olu Jacobs, has died at the age of 84. Jacobs’ death was announced on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, by his family, bringing to an end a remarkable acting career that spanned more than five decades across theatre, television and film. His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced the death in a statement describing the veteran actor as “The Lion of Lufodo.” The family said Jacobs died after a life dedicated to his family and the creative arts, while appealing to the public, bloggers and social media influencers to respect the family’s privacy during…
Author: Elvis Eromosele
By Babafemi Ojudu I live in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State. Within a radius of about twenty kilometres of the town are no fewer than nine institutions of higher learning. Every year, these institutions admit thousands of young people, train them for several years, award them certificates and release them into a labour market that has little or no use for much of what they have been taught. Not even five per cent of these graduates, I suspect, find suitable employment or establish enterprises capable of keeping them productively engaged. Many spend years roaming the streets with certificates tucked…
The United States on Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, with memorial ceremonies held across New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania to honour the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks and their aftermath. The anniversary brought together victims’ families, survivors, first responders, public officials and thousands of mourners at the three key sites targeted or affected by the attacks. In New York, ceremonies were held at the National September 11 Memorial at the former World Trade Center site, where more than 2,700 people were killed after hijackers crashed two commercial airliners into the Twin…
Africa Reputation Pulse (ARP), a continental independent reputation intelligence and audit infrastructure, has officially launched to give African institutions access to evidence-led intelligence on how they are seen, trusted, represented, and positioned across media, public narratives and generative AI environments. ARP is not simply a media monitoring or media intelligence platform. It brings together reputation intelligence, institutional auditing, media intelligence, narrative analysis, peer benchmarking, risk intelligence, and AI/GEO visibility into a single continental intelligence infrastructure designed to help African institutions understand and strengthen their reputation. Built for Africa and focused on African institutional context, ARP provides open access reputation intelligence…
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government to urgently introduce wage awards for workers, warning that escalating petrol prices are severely eroding purchasing power and deepening economic hardship. NLC President Joe Ajaero issued the demand in Abuja, noting that petrol prices have climbed to approximately N1,430 per litre in major urban areas, and even higher in remote regions. Ajaero cautioned that soaring transport fares risk triggering a cascading wave of inflation across food, rent, school fees, and public utilities. While acknowledging that recent oil market volatility has been fueled by conflicts in the Gulf region, Ajaero…
Companies developing increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems may eventually need to be legally required to install independently verifiable “kill switches” that can shut down dangerous AI tools, according to Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark. Clark, one of the seven founders of AI company Anthropic, told the BBC that AI developers already have different mechanisms for pulling the plug on their systems, but governments may ultimately need to make such safeguards mandatory. “Should you mandate for companies to definitely have a kill switch? Is that kill switch verifiable by a third party?” Clark asked, arguing that both questions should form part of…
The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has raised concerns over Nigeria’s skills gap in the construction industry, warning that the shortage of adequately trained artisans is forcing the country to rely on workers from neighbouring African countries for specialised finishing jobs. Afiz Ogun, Director-General of the ITF, said Nigeria’s dependence on artisans from countries including Togo and Ghana was particularly evident in areas such as tiling, plaster of Paris (POP) and other finishing works. Ogun spoke in Abuja at a joint press conference and groundbreaking ceremony for the second National Industrial Manpower Summit (NIMS 2.0). He said the situation reflected a…
Africa accounted for about 75 per cent of confirmed mpox cases reported globally in July, as transmission continued across the continent despite the World Health Organization (WHO) maintaining its assessment of the global public health risk as moderate. The WHO disclosed this in its 69th situation report, which reviewed the epidemiological situation across regions and found that mpox transmission remained active in several parts of the world. According to the report, 32 countries across four WHO regions recorded 1,370 confirmed cases and seven deaths in July, representing a global case fatality ratio of 0.5 per cent. Africa accounted for 1,153…
The Federal Government has raised a combined ₦1.23 trillion through two bond issuances as part of efforts to clear legacy debts owed to electricity Generation Companies (GenCos) and restore liquidity across Nigeria’s power sector. The latest issuance, Series 2 of the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme, raised ₦728.9 billion, adding to the ₦501 billion secured under Series 1 in January 2026. Akin Odeyemi, Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), disclosed the development in Abuja, saying participation in the latest issuance had expanded to 11 GenCos operating 21 power plants, compared with eight GenCos and 17…
The Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded its 110th meeting, unveiling a series of regulatory updates aimed at accelerating infrastructure growth, strengthening digital trust, and expanding digital education. Reviewing operational performance, the Board announced that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have now deployed 8,526 out of 1,2179 committed coverage and capacity sites, reaching a 70 per cent completion rate. Despite this rapid progress, the Commission highlighted that fibre cuts caused a sharp rise in network disruptions last June, emphasising the urgent need for enhanced infrastructure protection and network resilience. To foster security and digital trust, the NCC…