General
Government to Open Ogun River Bridge Soon
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Ogun River Bridge will soon be opened to traffic very soon as the work on the road is close to completion, the Commissioner for Public Works and Transports in Oyo State, Professor Dahud Kehinde Sangodoyin, assured during an inspection of the 34.8 Km Oyo-Fasola-Iseyin Road constructions which started in 2021.
While commending Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for his relentless effort to improve the state’s agriculture and economy through the construction of good roads, Professor Sangodoyin implored the citizens to protect whatever facility the government has provided so that there will not be any need for unnecessary repair.
Meanwhile, the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) has disclosed that the state has achieved 58.7 per cent in the practice of Exclusive Breastfeeding by Women of Child Bearing Age.
The Project Coordinator of ANRiN Oyo Project Implementation Unit, Dr Khadijah Alarape, confirmed this on Thursday at a stakeholders’ meeting of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition organised by ANRiN Project at the Owu Crown Hotel, Ibadan.
The ANRIN PC, who was elated with the recent data from MICS 2022 Survey, said the increase shows Pregnant and Lactating women are now aware of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for the general well-being of their children.
She lauded Mr Makinde for his support in increasing the maternity leave for pregnant women from 3 months to six months and also ANRiN for implementing 7 Basic Package of Nutritional Services across the 33 LGAs in the state.
This, according to her, has really helped the status of exclusive breastfeeding in the state in the last two years.
“The state governor should be thanked for his help in granting 6-months maternity leave for our mothers. This has really helped.
“This can be confirmed from available statistics on Nutrition indices that the state is doing well as far as exclusive breastfeeding is concerned. Although we need to work more on the rate of stunting in the state,” she stated.
While calling for more collaboration of the SCFN members, Dr Alarape said every Line Ministries on Nutrition must have a budgetary allocation for nutrition activities in their various MDAs.
She reiterated ANRiN’s effort at providing cost-effective Nutritional Services to Pregnant and Lactating Women, adolescent-girls as well as children under five across the state.
She also said two non-state actors, Solina Health Ltd and Save the Children, are currently working in communities across the state, giving Pregnant and Lactating Mothers as well as Children Under Five Basic Package of Nutritional Services.
In his welcome address, the Director of Development Partners at the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Mr Moruf Oyetunji, said the meeting is a statutory meeting which is held quarterly to review nutritional intervention and address malnutrition in the state.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has announced that Nigeria will launch a new alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, 2026, with every home expected to have a unique postcode.
Mr Tijani disclosed the development in a video post on X, describing the new system as a more precise and digitally oriented approach to addressing locations across the country.
He said the initiative would mark a significant shift in Nigeria’s postal addressing system by assigning unique postcodes to individual homes.
The initiative marks a major step in Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda. By replacing the outdated numeric-only system, the alphanumeric codes provide a more flexible and scalable framework that can accommodate the country’s rapid urban growth and diverse settlement patterns.
For emphasis, an alphanumeric postcode system is a postal indexing system that uses a combination of both letters (alpha) and numbers (numeric), along with spaces or punctuation, to identify specific geographic locations, streets, or individual buildings for mail delivery.
Unlike purely numeric postcode systems (such as the 5-digit US ZIP Code or 5-digit codes used in some European countries), alphanumeric codes offer a much higher number of unique combinations using fewer total characters. This flexibility allows postal authorities to pinpoint locations with incredible precision, often down to a single side of a street or a specific large building.
“On October 1st 2026 Nigeria’s new Alphanumeric Postcode System goes live,” Mr Tijani said.
“For the first time, every home will be assigned a unique postcode that’s simple, precise and built for a digital future,” he added.
The minister urged Nigerians to prepare to generate their individual postcodes ahead of the launch.
The new system is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s digital addressing infrastructure and improve the identification and location of homes and properties for postal and other location-based services.
The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) as part of broader efforts to modernise the country’s addressing and digital infrastructure.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has been directed to give an account to Nigerians on how the current government has fared since its inception on May 29, 2023.
This directive was given by President Bola Tinubu in a message posted on his verified social media handles on Wednesday.
This coincides with the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 presidential election scheduled for January 16.
According to the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), candidates seeking to become the country’s president are eligible to kick off their campaigns from today, Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
In his message today, Mr Tinubu said, “When we began this journey of reform in 2023, I promised that the difficult decisions we were making would serve the purpose of building an economy that works better for you and a country that is stronger for our children.
“Today, your government presents The Reforms Scorecard. It sets out what our reforms have achieved, what they have cost us, and the greater costs and harms we have prevented by acting when we did.
“I have therefore directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to give an account to Nigerians, to explain the numbers, the choices we have made, the progress recorded, and the work that remains.
“You deserve to see the numbers. You deserve to know what has changed and what these reforms mean for you, your family, your business and our country.
“This is your government. This is your country. This is our account to you.”
Shortly after he took the oath of office over three years ago, President Tinubu declared that subsidies on petroleum products were gone. He later approved foreign exchange (FX) reforms, which devalued the Nigerian Naira, shooting from about N800 per Dollar to nearly N2,000 per Dollar. However, it is currently slightly above N1,340 per Dollar in the official market.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE) Limited are advancing discussions on the development of deepwater assets estimated to hold 500 million barrels of oil reserves.
The development followed a meeting between the chief executive of the state oil company, Mr Bayo Ojulari, and Agip’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Maurizio Pinna, in Abuja.
The talks focused on ongoing work on deepwater acreage jointly held by NNPC, NAE and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) as well as plans to bring the associated resources into production.
According to NNPC, the acreage comprises the Zabazaba and Etan deepwater fields, with estimated reserves of about 500 million barrels.
The fields are located in Nigeria’s deepwater terrain and are considered significant to the country’s efforts to expand its upstream oil production base, particularly as operators seek to advance projects capable of delivering additional barrels over the medium to long term.
While details of the expected production timeline were not disclosed, the meeting underscores renewed industry focus on unlocking Nigeria’s deepwater resources and growing crude oil production.
The acreage comprises licences converted from OPL 245 and is operated by NAE in partnership with NNPC Limited and SNEPCo.
Mr Ojulari and Mr Pinna also reviewed the work currently underway on the assets and the expected production outlook, with the discussions centred on advancing deepwater development.
The engagement comes amid renewed efforts to attract investment into Nigeria’s offshore petroleum resources and increase national oil production.
