General
Sanwo-Olu Lauds Dangote’s Youth Empowerment Scheme
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has applauded the Dangote Group for its effort to empower youths in the state through its skills acquisition programme.
Recently, about 200 youths from Ibeju-Lekki community in Lagos State graduated from various skills acquisition programme organised by Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a way of transforming society and providing employment opportunities for the youths.
The programme was put together by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and facilitated by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB).
The skills acquisition programme, which cut across a wide range of vocational skills such as plumbing, welding, iron bending, auto mechanics and electrical works, marked the successful completion of the first batch trainees.
It also marked another level of Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s intervention as it is targeted at providing vocational skills to the teeming youth population in its host communities.
What Governor said
While addressing the beneficiaries, Mr Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Managing Director of Lekki Free Trade Zone Worldwide, Mr Tunde Sodade, said the state government will employ the 200 graduands, but urged them to be good ambassadors to the state and their community.
“We will ensure that all of you that graduated today, will be employed at the free zone because we believe that what you learnt will be useful for the development of the zone. I urge you all to be good examples to others and always demonstrate better character and integrity in what you do,” the Governor said.
He further urged the graduands to register their names with the Lekki Free Trade Zone management, so they could be employed by all companies within the zone.
NDE Boss also Spoke
The State Coordinator of the Nigerian Directorate of Employees (NDE), Mrs Serena Edward lauded Dangote group for pioneering the skills vocational training for the youths in the community.
Mrs Edward said the programme which started six months ago, had today recorded tremendous success among the 200 graduands.
“We encountered some challenges in the course of the programme, which the community elders intervened. The programme has transformed the students to do better and also improved their standards of creativity on the jobs leant.
“Today, the programme has facilitated the students to open an account with a bank as a sign of seriousness towards business. Dangote has given the community youths useful tools to work with and advised you use it diligently,” she said.
The Traditional Encouraged the Youth
Oba Olumuyiwa Ogunbekun, the Oni-Lekki of Lekki, encouraged the youth to fully utilise the skills they acquired. He commended Dangote Refinery for its unwavering support to community development initiatives in the state and emphasised the need for the youth to work hard.
Mr Ogunbekun also urged Dangote to assist in employing the trained youths in other to foster youth mutual relationship in the community and make them practice what they learnt.
He also commended Aliko Dangote for bringing development to the communities through its investment in refinery and petrochemicals and urged other Nigerians of means to invest locally and lift the economy of the people at the grassroots.
What the Instructor and Graduands Said
Mr Musa Ajibola, an instructor, urged companies to follow what Dangote had done, while urging companies to make the training one year programme than six months. He said the training had broadened the knowledge of the youths toward improving their knowledge.
One of the students, Balogun Fuad said the programme was laudable, adding that it came at the right time. According to him, most youths in the area do not have meaningful livelihood, while urging Dangote and others to employ them.
Another student, Balogun Owolabi said the programme had created opportunities for most of the youth. He added that this could make them independent in the community.
Dangote Spoke too
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Dangote Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects and Portfolio Development, Mr Devakumar Edwin, said the initiative was a demonstration of Dangote Refinery’s commitment toward capacity-building and youth empowerment in the country.
Mr Edwin said the programme was another level of Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s intervention targeted at providing vocational skills to the teeming youth population in its host communities. He said the programme was also aimed at making youth from its host communities employable.
He said the 200 youths from Ibeju-Lekki community in Lagos State graduated from various skills acquisition programmes put together by Dangote Petroleum Refinery as a way of transforming society and providing employment opportunities for the youths.
He urged the graduands to be more focused and diligent in whatever they do and serve as frontier to others.
“With the tools given to you today, you can be good ambassadors of this great community. So many graduates outside are still searching for jobs, but yours is different because you have been trained.
“We are going to give you our maximum support to ensure you are employed in our operations, as our host communities remains our priority. These skills given to you today, can take you to various places and attract better opportunity if managed effectively,” he said.
Mr Edwin advised the graduands to commit themselves to continuous learning and development as the business environment changes frequently, and promised to assist them to succeed.
According to him, as the petroleum refining & fertiliser complex comes on stream, it is expected that will be a population boom in the surrounding communities, who requires the services of the trainees.
He expressed optimism that the host communities will experience a turnaround in their fortunes very soon.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved a $4.5 billion arrangement for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited aimed at strengthening the country’s external reserves and freeing up funds for infrastructure.
This is part of the refinancing of the $3.3 billion Project Gazelle Pre-Export Finance Facility through a new $4.5 billion facility named “Project Gazelle 2”.
The approval allows NNPC Limited to refinance the outstanding balance of approximately $1.5 billion under the original 2023 facility, while unlocking an additional $3 billion in liquidity to strengthen the country’s external reserves and support ongoing fiscal and infrastructure priorities of the government.
NEC’s approval followed a presentation by the Minister of Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which was presented by the Chairman of the Council, Vice President Kashim Shettima, underscoring the importance of the project.
NEC observed the significance of unlocking additional liquidity to the federation, among other benefits, pledging its support for the actualisation of the initiative.
The Finance Minister explained that the refinancing has been structured on more favourable terms than the original facility, including a reduction in the volume of pledged crude oil from 90,000 barrels of oil per day to approximately 78,750 barrels of oil per day – a 12.5 per cent reduction.
He noted that under the new arrangement, an additional 11,250 barrels of oil per day for the federation will be released, while there will be a reduction in the pledged crude volumes by the state oil company.
Mr Oyedele added that while accessing additional liquidity on improved terms, the arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures.
“The arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures,” he said.
VP Shettima called for a responsive, scalable, and data-driven social protection policy to tackle multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.
According to Mr Shettima, government policies are often heard before they are seen, speak through the price of food, condition of hospitals, records in schools, strain on families, the confidence of those who invest their labour in the nation’s future, and, very importantly, the ambitions of state governments.
He implored members of Council to ensure that every decision they make assure the citizens “that their government is paying attention to the pulse of the nation and is resolved to respond with competence, compassion and purpose.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Members of the public have been invited to submit memoranda and policy proposals on the proposed National Policing Bill.
The Chairman of the Working Group, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, announced this on Monday after the team’s meeting at the State House in Abuja.
The group, headed by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, is calling for input from Nigerians as part of efforts to establish a comprehensive legal and operational framework for state policing.
It is reviewing the Police Act 2020, the Police Service Commission framework, police regulations, and other relevant laws to support the development of an effective, modern policing system.
The proposed framework will set national minimum standards, define state readiness and grant certification, clarify jurisdictional responsibilities, ensure independent oversight, uphold human rights, and guarantee sustainable funding. It would also spell out an orderly transition to a dual-policing structure.
The call for memoranda will run for two weeks, allowing citizens, professionals, civil society, security agencies, state and local governments, academics, and other stakeholders to contribute. Submissions will be reviewed and integrated into the draft bill, which will then be subject to further national consultation before being finalised and sent to the National Assembly.
The Working Group has adopted a seven-week work programme running from July 27 to September 14, 2026. The draft Executive Bill is scheduled for presentation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on September 3, 2026, with national consultations to follow before the final approval.
The new National Policing Bill will set out requirements for recruitment, training, oversight, funding, and transition arrangements to ensure credible, effective, and accountable policing nationwide.
“A proposed State Police Service must demonstrate that it has credible arrangements for recruitment, vetting, training, pay, pensions, equipment, custody, complaints, discipline, data, firearms control, independent oversight and financial sustainability before it begins policing,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.
The representative of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, who described State Police as a landmark reform, described the initiative as one of the defining reforms of President Tinubu’s administration.
Responding to concerns about federal overreach, he clarified that there is no Federal attempt to control State Police. He added that the proposed legislation is intended to provide an operational framework rather than centralise control.
Prince Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said the proposed National Policing Bill is designed to guarantee the security of lives and property while ensuring that the establishment of state police does not become a tool for political persecution.
The Attorney-General added that states not immediately ready to establish their own police services would continue to benefit from the presence of the Federal Police until they meet the required standards.
Other participants at the meeting included the Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu; President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe; Chairman, Policy Advisory Committee, Justice Abdullahi Liman (rtd); Professor Olu Ogunsakin, Head, Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Planning and Research, Nnadubem Moghalu; and Brigadier General Olutayo Muyiwa Adesuyi, representing the National Security Adviser.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says it recorded a 30 per cent reduction in gas imbalance on the country’s Western Network following the conclusion of its first-half 2026 Nigerian Gas Network Reconciliation (NGNR) Workshop.
The workshop brought together gas transporters, suppliers, shippers and off-takers to reconcile gas volumes traded between January and June 2026, while introducing a Network Entry/Exit Point Measurement Infrastructure Audit Template aimed at improving metering accuracy and accountability across the gas transmission network.
In a communiqué issued after the workshop, the authority said participants also reviewed the performance of the Nigerian Gas Transmission Network, assessed progress on major pipeline infrastructure projects, and received updates on the ELPS Gas Shrinkage Factor and Hydraulic Modelling Project.
Discussions focused on addressing metering gaps, improving network visibility through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) integration, and enhancing system reliability ahead of the commissioning of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Pipeline System.
The workshop adopted key resolutions, including the execution of outstanding Network Exit Agreements, mandatory submission of measurement audit templates and closer collaboration among industry stakeholders to improve network pressure management.
Speaking at the closing session on behalf of the authority’s chief executive, Mr Rabiu A. Umar, the Director of Transportation Systems and Networks, Mr Joseph G. Musa, said the biannual reconciliation exercise had become critical to promoting equitable gas transactions, transparency, investor confidence and efficient network operations.
Mr Musa noted that since the NGNR process was introduced in 2023, it had significantly improved gas measurement, strengthened regulatory compliance through consequence management, reduced operational imbalances and contributed to a more reliable domestic gas supply.
The workshop concluded with participants adopting the reconciled H1 2026 gas volumes, reaffirming the authority’s commitment to a transparent, efficient and reliable domestic gas market.
