General
Opaleye Wins African Prize for Leadership Excellence
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The African Institute for Leadership Excellence has announced the founder and chief executive officer of Alerzo Limited, Mr Adewale Opaleye, as one of the winners in the 2021 African Prize for Leadership Excellence.
The head of the business-to-business e-commerce platform grabbed an award in the Fintech Personality Leadership Prize category of the event held in collaboration with the African Brands Media Ltd and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
According to the organisers of the award ceremony, which took place in Lagos on Thursday, February 24, 2022, the prize is meant to celebrate leaders who have positively impacted the economy of the continent through their work.
“The African Prize for Leadership Excellence is a prize for excellent leadership experience for some selected African personalities who have made an impact in the development of the African economy through their innovation, creativity and leadership experience in their field of endeavour,” they said.
They added that the Fintech Personality Leadership Prize given to Mr Opaleye was in recognition of his “expertise, sound knowledge and practical leadership excellence.”
Receiving the prize, Mr Opaleye expressed his excitement about being chosen for the esteemed prize and thanked the organisers for the honour they have done to him.
“I wish I could fully express how excited I am at this prize that is presented to me today by such an august body. I am profoundly happy that the work we do at Alerzo Nigeria is greatly impacting the economy of the continent in such a way as to merit this huge honour being bestowed on me.
“The only way I can reward you is to pledge to continue to do all I can in assisting my fellow compatriots in addressing their business challenges using technology,” he said.
Mr Opaleye told a brief history of his work at Alerzo Nigeria – how he was raised by a mother who was a shop owner. He said he saw first-hand the challenges his mother, like other shop owners, faced in the running of her business – issues of inventory management, access to capital, logistics and so on – which seemed endless. Then he went to study in China and saw how the country used technology in solving similar problems, and thought that Nigerians can equally tackle their business challenges using the same technology.
“I founded Alerzo Nigeria to address most of the challenges that face informal retailers in Nigeria. I am happy that, in two years of operations, Alerzo has deployed technology in addressing the challenges of the informal retailers who are on our platform. With our delivery services, retailers save time, energy, and resources that they would have otherwise expended in restocking,” he said.
The award event brought together prominent business leaders, entrepreneurs and high-ranking government officials from across the continent including former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Presidents of South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Togo among others.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The United States government gave some terrorists in Nigeria a Christmas gift that sent many of them to the great beyond.
On Thursday, December 25, 2025, the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, directed his country’s military to launch air strikes on camps of members of the dreaded Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Sokoto State.
According to Mr Trump, the military action, which he threatened to carry out a few weeks ago if the Nigerian government does not stop the killing of Christians in the country, occurred on Thursday night.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.
“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.
“Under my leadership, our country will not allow radical islamic terrorism to prosper. May God bless our military, and Merry Christmas to all, including the dead terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Department of War of the United States posted the below video of the air strikes;
https://twitter.com/DeptofWar/status/2004351717131903272
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The presidency has reacted to speculations that Mr Femi Gbajabiamila has been removed as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu.
It was alleged that Mr Gbajabiamila has been replaced with the President’s Principal Private Secretary, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola.
Mr Muri-Okunola went to Abuja to take up this role after leaving as the Head of Service of the Lagos State Civil Service.
Reacting to the reports on social media on the purported removal of Mr Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, the presidency said no such change has been made.
In a statement signed on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, members of the public were advised to disregard the report as “there is absolutely no truth to this story.”
“The Chief of Staff remains in his position. The Principal Private Secretary likewise remains in his role. Hakeem Muri-Okunola has not replaced Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff.
“The viral claim is a fabrication by mischievous purveyors of fake news whose sole aim is to create disharmony within the government.
“We reiterate that news media should always verify their information before publishing or sharing on social media,” the statement said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The new chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has assumed office with a clear message to advance the country’s upstream oil and gas sector in line with the mandate of the commission as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
According to a statement signed by Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, the Head of Media & Strategic Communications at the upstream regulator, the NUPRC boss made this assertation during her first town hall meeting with management and staff on Tuesday December 23, 2025.
She further disclosed plans to make the commission a business enabler and re-ignite investments in the upstream sector.
Recall that President Tinubu nominated Mrs Eyesan to take over the NUPRC after the abrupt resignation of her predecessor, Mr Gbenga Komolafe as well as his counterpart in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed.
In her new capacity, Mrs Eyesan also set a firm production ambition of growing Nigeria’s output and increasing gas production.
“The goal is that we must enable the industry, we are regulators. We must enable the industry from our interactions with the stakeholders, from our interactions with everybody.
“My main objective is to ensure that we make a difference. I believe the NUPRC is at the Center of the industry,” she said.
The commission boss who has served for over three decades in the oil and gas sector, promised to entrench digitisation, transparency and efficiency in operations.
The NUPRC head said with the support of staff and management, the NUPRC will become the gold-standard regulator in Africa. She also promised capacity development, stronger technical depth and sustained engagement with stakeholders, unions and professional teams.
On leadership style, Mrs Eyesan promised an open-door policy and frequent staff engagement, while also soliciting for support and cooperation as the industry embarks on the next phase of transformation.
“If we work together we can unleash opportunities, I don’t see impediments only opportunities,” she added.
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