By Aduragbemi Omiyale

No fewer than 40 residents of Iwaa, Oyo, Obajana and Apata communities in Kogi State have completed a training programme on fish farming and entrepreneurship.

This is an initiative of the Obajana plant of Dangote Cement Plc designed to empower inhabitants of its host communities.

This scheme builds on a series of previous community empowerment programmes, including training in poultry production, solar entrepreneurship, and fashion design, among others.

At the graduation ceremony witnessed by representatives of the federal government, the Kogi State Government, and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), as well as traditional rulers and other key stakeholders, the Plant Director, Mr Azad Nawabuddin, described the skills acquisition programme as a strategic scheme aimed at promoting job creation and driving overall economic development within the host communities.

“In learning the art and business of fish farming, you have embraced a cycle of life that teaches responsibility. You nurture, you wait, you adapt, and in time, you harvest. This mirrors the journey of community development itself: it is not built in a day, but through consistent effort, shared knowledge, and collective commitment,” he stated.

According to him, fish farming does not stand alone. It creates ripples by providing food for families, income for households, and opportunities for others.

“One fishpond can support a network: feed suppliers, transporters, market women, and processors. In this way, what begins as an individual skill becomes a communal asset,” he added.

Also commenting, the General Manager and Head of the Social Performance Department at Dangote Cement in Obajana, Mr Ademola Adeyemi, said the event was part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme of the company.

“We don’t Lord ourself on the communities. We jointly agree to carry out this CSR programme. We invest proactively in skills, in people, and in ideas that can uplift communities. Through partnerships like the one we have with the Industrial Training Fund, we ensure that our interventions are not just well-intentioned, but impactful and sustainable,” he disclosed.

A representative of the Technical Adviser on CSR to the Kogi State Governor, Mr Akinola Oluropo Babatunde, commended Aliko Dangote for his support for communities in Kogi State.

He urged beneficiaries to make proper use of the opportunity and have a positive impact on their communities.

By Adedapo Adesanya

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a former acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku, to 72 years imprisonment over N868.46 million fraud.

In a Monday statement posted on its X (formerly Twitter) account, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed the conviction and sentencing of Mr Nwabuoku for money laundering, after the court found him guilty of all charges.

“The former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who was prosecuted by the EFCC at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for money laundering involving N868.46 million, has been convicted and sentenced to jail for 72 years,” the agency said.

The alleged offence, according to the EFCC, contravenes section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012), and is punishable under section 15(3) of the Act.

The commission said Mr Nwabuoku committed the offences while serving as the director of finance and accounts in the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.

The former AGF had filed a no-case submission, which was dismissed by the court in November 2025.

Mr Nwabuoku was appointed acting accountant-general of the federation on May 20, 2022, by the late President Muhammadu Buhari, following the suspension of Mr Ahmed Idris over alleged N80 billion fraud.

However, he was removed from the position in July 2022, barely weeks after assuming office, following reports that he was under EFCC investigation.

He is the latest high-profile individual to be sentenced after the Federal High Court in Abuja last week sentenced the former Managing Director of the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr Robert Orya, to 490 years’ imprisonment following his conviction in a N2.4 billion fraud case.

In a statement shared via its official X handle on Thursday, the anti-graft agency confirmed that Justice F.E. Messiri of the Abuja High Court has sentenced the former NEXIM boss, who served from 2011 to 2016, to 10 years’ imprisonment for each of the 49 counts brought against him in the N2.4 billion fraud case.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said it has successfully disbursed a fresh N3.2 billion to Zanoplus, to allow the company to deploy solar mini-grid projects across strategic locations in Bauchi State, as part of the agency’s commitment to decentralised energy solutions.

The company noted that this latest disbursement follows closely on the heels of a N7.4 billion disbursement to Ventura Logistics Services for a 7MW mini-grid initiative.

Both interventions were executed under the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) Programme, a transformative partnership designed to catalyse private-sector participation through support for indigenous financial institutions.

The funding mechanism is rooted in a landmark Memorandum of Understanding signed in February between the REA and Lotus Bank, which established a N100 billion revolving credit facility.

Under this framework, developers can access up to N8 billion in equipment procurement financing with a tenure of 18 months, alongside Lotus Bank, which provides up to 90 per cent counterpart funding for projects approved through result-based financing.

Zanoplus’ deployment is set to transform Bauchi State’s socio-economic landscape by delivering a combined capacity of over 1.2 MWp.

A breakdown showed the specific allocations include 450 kWp for Gabarin East, 400 kWp for Futuk, 200 kWp for Gangalawai, and 150 kWp for Daburai (Gabarin West). These systems operate as integrated local generation and distribution networks with capacities below 1MW, functioning independently of the national grid to provide reliable, clean energy directly to numerous end-users in isolated regions.

Reflecting on the progress of the DARES Programme, the managing director of the REA, Mr Abba Aliyu, emphasised that the true success of these disbursements lies in the efficiency and integrity of the process.

He noted that the speed and transparency of execution demonstrate the vibrancy of the local financing capacity currently being catalysed by the REA.

According to Mr Aliyu, this momentum demonstrates that a performance-based financing framework can effectively channel capital to credible, ready-to-implement projects that are strictly aligned with delivery milestones.

The REA chief further highlighted that this consistent flow of capital sends a powerful signal to the global and local investment community that the Nigerian renewable energy market is active and the underlying structures are working.

He lauded the proactive role of Nigerian financial institutions, which are increasingly transitioning from mere participants to primary drivers of renewable energy infrastructure.

By aligning performance with streamlined financing, the REA and its partners aim to unlock the necessary scale to achieve universal energy access across the federation.