General
North East Conflict Renders 1.9m Nigerians Homeless—UNICEF
By Adedapo Adesanya
The conflict in the North East of Nigeria has uprooted 1.9 million Nigerians from their homes, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed.
This was made known in a statement issued by the UN specialised agency’s Communications Specialist for Nigeria, Mr Geoffrey Njoku, on Tuesday, May 5.
The UNICEF report stressed that internally-displaced children in Nigeria accounted for one of the world’s most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency, in the report titled Lost at Home to assess the risks and challenges facing internally- displaced children, called for urgent actions to protect them.
“In North-East, Nigeria, there are currently 1.9 million people displaced from their homes. Sixty percent of them are children, with one in four under the age of five,” it said.
The report stated that globally, an estimated 19 million children, more than ever before, were living in displacement within their own countries, due to conflict and violence in 2019.
“’Lost at Home’ looks at the risks and challenges internally- displaced children face and the urgent actions needed to protect them,” it said.
The UN agency said that as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, children are among the most vulnerable to feel its direct and indirect impacts.
“Hundreds of thousands of children in North-East, Nigeria, are living in the shadow of conflict and now in the increasingly-challenging shadow of a global pandemic and its potential socio-economic aftermath.
“When a new crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic emerges, displaced children are especially vulnerable and the gaps in our ability to keep them safe are even starker.
“We must urgently work together; all of us, government and humanitarian partners, to keep them safe, healthy, learning and protected,” it said.
According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic is making a critical situation for displaced children and families around the world even worse.
It said that they often lived in overcrowded camps or informal settlements, where access to basic hygiene and health services was limited, and where physical distancing was not possible.
“This is true in Nigeria’s North-East, where conditions pose a particular challenge to containing the possible spread of diseases like COVID-19.
“Internally-displaced children around the world often lack access to basic services and are at risk of exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse and trafficking,” the report stated.
Assessing the challenges facing children, UNICEF explained that they were also at risk of child labour, child marriage and family separation, all of which posed direct threats to their health and safety.
The report said there are 12 million new displacements of children in 2019, with 3.8 million of them caused by conflict and violence and 8.2 million by disasters linked mostly to weather-related events, like flooding and storms.
UNICEF further said it was collaborating with its partners to protect displaced children in the North-East through critical health and nutrition services.
Others, it said, were provision of access to life-saving WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) services through accelerated construction of facilities, and adapted solutions to continuing education, including provision of radio for distance learning, while schools were closed.
“What we really need now are strategic investments and united efforts by government, civil society organisations, private sector, humanitarian actors and the children themselves, to find solutions to the effects of displacement, especially as we face the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The efforts must also address and help mitigate the long term impacts this can have on children’s health and education,” it said
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank Group’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Standard Chartered on Wednesday announced a new risk-sharing facility aimed at strengthening supply chains and supporting business growth across Africa.
The programme will roll out across eight markets—Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia—targeting sectors including agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing, with a focus on improving access to working capital for suppliers.
This marks the IFC’s first project under its Global Supply Chain Finance Program and the Africa Trade and Supply Chain Recovery Initiative, supported by the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility.
Global demand for supply chain finance continues to rise, reaching an estimated $2.7 trillion in 2025, an increase of 8 per cent year-on-year. However, access in emerging markets remains limited, as financial institutions tend to prioritise developed economies.
The facility will cover up to $300 million in supply chain and trade finance assets originated by Standard Chartered. It includes financing instruments such as payables finance, receivables discounting and pre-shipment finance programmes, which enable businesses to access funds earlier in the payment cycle.
The facility aims to address this imbalance by mitigating risk in short-term trade and supply chain finance portfolios, helping to unlock capital in underserved markets.
By accelerating payments to suppliers, the initiative aims to strengthen supply chain relationships, improve delivery reliability and support job creation across value chains.
IFC will provide guarantees of up to $150 million, with $100 million committed as an initial tranche. The facility will support transactions in both U.S. dollars and selected local currencies.
Over three years, the partnership is expected to enable approximately $1.9 billion in supply chain finance transactions, supporting more than 500 suppliers, including small and medium enterprises. The programme also has the potential to indirectly benefit over 1 million farmers.
Speaking on this development, Mr Mohamed Gouled, Vice President, Products & Clients at IFC, said, “Supply chain finance is among the fastest ways to narrow the growing finance gap that businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, are facing in emerging economies. By partnering with Standard Chartered to support companies at the centre of strategic value chains, we can unlock much-needed working capital at scale for businesses across Africa, including smaller firms and farmers, making supply chains more competitive and boosting job creation.”
On his part, Mr Dalu Ajene, Chief Executive and Head of Coverage, Standard Chartered Africa, said, “This $300 million facility with IFC underscores our shared commitment to strengthening Africa’s supply chains and enabling sustainable business growth. As a super-connector bank with deep expertise across key trade corridors linking Africa to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas, we are uniquely positioned to channel capital and innovation into the real economy.”
“By expanding access to supply chain finance, we are helping African companies unlock liquidity, manage risk, and invest with confidence. Our collaboration unites Standard Chartered’s cross-border expertise with IFC’s development mandate to empower businesses – from major corporations to smaller local suppliers – to engage more actively in regional and global trade, fostering job creation and promoting inclusive growth,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that the average retail price of a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, rose by 22.55 per cent or N237.07 per litre to N1,288.54 in March 2026 from N1,051.47 in February.
In the Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch for March released on Tuesday, the NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the average retail price of fuel also increased by 2.13 per cent from N1,261.65 recorded in March 2025.
This surge in fuel prices could be linked to global disruptions brought on by the US-Israel war on Iran, which triggered the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and sent prices of crude oil above $100 per barrel.
While the country was not heavily hit by the impact, it felt the ripple effect of crude prices increasing, particularly as Dangote Refinery imported crude from other markets to cover for local feedstock shortfalls.
The data noted that by state, Anambra recorded the highest average retail price of N1,441.22 per litre, followed by Sokoto at N1,377.55 and Borno at N1,375.16.
However, the price was cheapest in Lagos at N1,162.71, followed by Ogun at N1,169.78 and Kaduna state at N1,193.40.
By zone, it was most expensive in the North East at N1,336.50 last month, while the South-West recorded the lowest at N1,232.46.
A look at the Diesel Price Watch Report for March showed that the average retail price paid by users rose by 16.05 per cent on a month-on-month basis to N1,648.08 per litre from N1,420.17 per litre a month earlier.
“On state profiles analysis, the highest average price of diesel in March was recorded in Ebonyi at N2,262.29 per litre, followed by Akwa Ibom at N1,895.72 and Osun at N1,872.15.
“On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Kogi at N1,383.40 per litre, followed by Katsina State at N1,438.25 and Enugu at N1,480.06,” parts of the report said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr Datti Baba-Ahmed, has left the party to join the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the politician said he’s no longer interested in the way the Labour Party was being run.
He disclosed that there is no more peace in the political party he flew its flag in the last general elections because of greed.
He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of destabilising opposition political parties to ensure President Bola Tinubu does not have a credible opponent in the 2027 presidential poll.
“What the Labour Party stood for is not the same now. We have a government of today which is interested in destroying other political parties,” he said.
“I am leaving the Labour Party tomorrow (today) by 12 midnight,” Mr Baba-Ahmed said when asked about his plans for next year.
I am leaving the Labour Party [at] midnight, and I am joining PRP. PRP is the new destination. PRP is the one with a history. It’s about 75 years old,” he further stated.
He further said, “When there was real peace in the Labour Party, someone was redeployed to the Labour Party and because of the antecedents of the person, [I don’t see things getting better].
PRP, a progressive Nigerian political party, was established in 1978 by Mallam Aminu Kano. It is rooted in social democratic principles and populist ideology, often focusing on the empowerment of the talakawa (common people).
Its current National Chairman, according to data obtained from the website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is Mr Falalu Bello, while the National Secretary is Mr Babatunde F. Alli.
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