General
9,000 Niger Delta Youths Undergo Shell LiveWIRE Programme
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No fewer than 9,000 youths in the Niger Delta have been trained and supported with start-up grants and business mentorship in the LiveWIRE programme of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) since it was introduced in 2003.
The scheme is part of efforts to boost employment opportunities among people aged 18 – 35 years, enabling them to launch their businesses and become employers of labour.
The latest training involved more than 1,000 young entrepreneurs from host communities in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states.
They graduated last week in Port Harcourt having developed business plans and pitched them to experts as part of the training. 654 trainees were selected as best-performers.
The graduation ceremony featured a technical conference with the theme, Unlocking Growth: Leveraging Policies to Build an Inclusive Tech Ecosystem in the Niger Delta.
The keynote speaker, Iyke Kemabonta, and panellists, Soala Jumbo, Davies Awongo, Kalada Briggs, Vivien Ene and Ezieke Amaefula, challenged the beneficiaries to grow their businesses, overcome environmental challenges and enable the Niger Delta to reap the rewards of the programme.
Trainees from the 2023 Regional LiveWIRE programme from Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Imo, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Edo states also joined the graduation ceremony.
Beneficiaries were inducted into the LiveWIRE Alumni Group by three previous participants who now run their own businesses — Precious Adeho, Queen Esther Bolou-Ebi and Kalada Briggs. The trio encouraged the recipients to use the opportunity to launch pads into international recognition and success.
In a notable achievement, five previous beneficiaries won the LiveWIRE International Go and Trade Enterprise Linkage Award which enabled them to embark on trade visits to London, Dubai, Malaysia, and neighbouring Ghana.
Livewire Nigeria also offers beneficiaries the chance to compete for the Global Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Award which comes with huge rewards.
At the graduation ceremony, the Director and Head of Corporate Relations at SPDC, Igo Weli, said, “We’re delighted at the success of the LiveWIRE programme.
“This training is set aside for young people from our host communities which means they can also enjoy the programme’s benefits and join the teeming number of entrepreneurs, several of whom now have the chance to participate in SPDC’s business as vendors. LIveWIRE is one of many ways through which Shell and her partners are powering progress in Nigeria.”
LiveWIRE, sponsored by the SPDC Joint Venture, which includes the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, TotalEnergies and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, is the company’s global enterprise development initiative for small businesses and is active in 18 countries.
As at 2023, the programme had trained about 3,400 people and helped create more than 1,200 jobs around the world.
General
NDIC Seeks EFCC Enhanced Support on Asset Tracing, Recovery
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has sought an enhanced collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in areas including asset tracing, recovery, and management.
This was hinged on a recent visit by the chief executive of the corporation, Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, to the chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mr Ola Olukoyede.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Sunday stressed that the visit offered an opportunity for formal engagement with the EFCC for further collaboration between the two organizations.
“We aim to further strengthen our collaboration, deepen institutional synergy and explore additional avenues for mutual support in the pursuit of national financial system stability. The EFCC has been our partner and we want this to continue. We look forward to an expanded and more impactful partnership between our two esteemed institutions,” Mr Sunday said.
Further in his request, he stated that the NDIC sought to leverage on the EFCC’s technical expertise in asset tracing, recovery and management, particularly in cases involving debtors of banks in liquidation.
“Your experience has and will continue to greatly enhance our recovery efforts. Additionally, we have that strategic responsibility for prosecuting individuals whose actions contribute to the failure of banks. We therefore seek closer collaboration with the Commission in this critical area.”
On his part, Mr Olukoyede, remarked that both agencies of government have a longstanding record of collaboration, pledged to amplify the working relationship.
He emphasized that the NDIC and EFCC are like inseparable twins, working together for years. He reminded the NDIC’s boss that the EFCC had been supporting his agency in the area of investigation, while the NDIC had been supporting the EFCC in the area of training.
“So, there has been this mutually beneficial relationship between NDIC and EFCC and we never intend to stop. We’ll continue to take it to a higher level, and continue to strengthen it,” he said.
Mr Olukoyede reiterated that his policy directive was to stimulate the Nigerian economy with the anti-graft war, leverage productive entities and enhance the capacities of other government agencies through needful interventions.
“One of the things I promised when I resumed was to use the instrumentality of this work to stimulate the economy, not just to make noise all over the place; to strengthen and encourage the internal processes of entities that are doing well and design fraud risk assessment for them. That was what necessitated my establishing a new department called Fraud Risk Assessment and Control.
“We don’t have to always wait for money to be stolen. Let us work with you and stakeholders in the economy to fine tune our system and make sure that we clean our financial ecosystem. You’re a key player in that area, and we are always willing to collaborate with you,” he added.
General
Again, Nigeria’s Electricity Grid Collapses, Triggers Nationwide Blackout
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed again on Tuesday morning, cutting power supply nationwide after generation and load allocation dropped to zero across all distribution companies,.
The incident marks the second recorded collapse of the national power grid in 2026, the second as well in five days following last Friday’s inclident.
This also means the third time in one month after a similar failure on December 29, 2025.
The system failure occurred at about 10:50 a.m, when electricity allocation to all electricity distribution companies fell to zero. Data from the grid operator showed that power generation plunged to zero megawatts, triggering a total shutdown of supply across the country.
A review of the national distribution load profile at the time of the incident indicated that all distribution companies, including Abuja, Eko, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Yola, recorded zero load, confirming a nationwide outage.
All 23 power generation plants connected to the national grid reportedly lost output during the incident, resulting in zero power allocation to each of the 11 electricity distribution companies.
As of time of filing this report, no official confirmation has been provided by the government authorities.
General
Military Confirms Attempt to Overthrow Tinubu, to Arraign Coup Plotters
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Nigerian military on Monday, January 26, 2026, confirmed that some of its personnel actually attempted to overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu in October 2025.
It was earlier speculated that the October 1 parade last year was abruptly cancelled due to an alleged attempt to remove Mr Tinubu from office by some members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), with 16 persons arrested over the issue.
Providing an update on the matter today, the Director of Information for the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, Major General Samaila Uba, said investigations have “identified a number of the officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government” and would be “formally arraigned before appropriate military judicial panel to face trial.”
“It would be recalled that the Defence Headquarters issued a press statement in October 2025 regarding the arrest of sixteen officers over acts of indiscipline and breaches of service regulations. The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) wishes to inform the general public that investigations into the matter have been concluded and the report forwarded to appropriate superior authority in line with extant regulations.
“The comprehensive investigation process, conducted in accordance with established military procedures, has carefully examined all circumstances surrounding the conduct of the affected personnel. The findings have identified a number of the officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government which is inconsistent with the ethics, values and professional standards required of members of the AFN.
“Accordingly, those with cases to answer will be formally arraigned before appropriate military judicial panel to face trial in accordance with the Armed Forces Act and other applicable service regulations. This ensures accountability while upholding the principles of fairness and due process.
“The AFN reiterates that measures being taken are purely disciplinary and part of ongoing institutional mechanisms to preserve order, discipline and operational effectiveness within the ranks. The Armed Forces remain resolute in maintaining the highest standards of professionalism, loyalty and respect for constitutional authority,” the statement read.
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