General
P&G, WARIF Boost Schoolgirls’ Confidence
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A leading consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Nigeria, has partnered with the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) to facilitate the educational programs (WARIF Educational School Programme.
This is part of its efforts to address the issues affecting girls confidence and empowerment and with the collaboration, P&G will facilitate the educational programs around gender-based violence and support WARIF with the acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) for its frontline healthcare, which supports its “protect our heroes” interventions while promoting both its Education and Gender Equality Citizenship Pillars.
The partnership is driven by P&G Employees through the P&G Employee Covid-19 Support Fund where employees made voluntary contributions to sponsor identified NGO (WARIF) as part of giving back to the community.
P&G as an organisation matched 100 per cent of total Employee contributions to reiterate its corporate commitment to Education and Gender Equality Citizenship Pillars.
The mandated lockdown in 2020 and stay at home directive due to the COVID – 19 pandemic resulted in an increased number of cases of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) as well as child abuse cases reported to WARIF as more women and children were in quarantine with their abusers.
The WESP Initiative, which started on March 10 at Oregun High School, was a four-week program themed “Identifying the Signs and Preventing School-Related Gender-Based Violence.” The program included P&G’s “Always Menstrual Hygiene Session.”
Commenting on the initiative, the P&G Senior Director for Africa, Global Government Relations & Public Policy, Mrs Temitope Iluyemi, reiterated P&G’s dedication to gender-based issues.
She said: “At P&G, we are always inspired by initiatives like this. Beyond this, we have a target to educate more than 50,000 adolescent girls on puberty and menstrual hygiene over the next three years in Nigeria through our Always Keeping Girls in School (AKGIS) program which will also provide a year supply of sanitary pads so that they can commit to their education and their future.”
“These trainings and sensitisation will play a pivotal role in creating the necessary education and awareness in girls on social issues that impact their confidence around puberty. That is why P&G is happy to partner with WARIF to evoke a change in the prevailing mindset of the community and a create greater awareness about the issue of violence against women and resources available to affected girls”. Temitope revealed.
Commenting on the program, Founder of WARIF, Dr Kemi DaSilva Ibru stated that “With the increasing number of cases of rape and sexual violence in our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more critical now to engage the most vulnerable age group in our society – young girls between the ages of 12 and 18, creating awareness by educating them and providing the necessary essential services to address the issue.
“We are thankful to the P&G Team for their support and partnership with the WARIF Educational School Program; WESP an initiative specifically designed to empower and equip young adolescent schoolgirls with a tool kit in successfully tackling gender-based violence. We remain committed to ensuring that all girls can live in a society free from rape and sexual violence.”
P&G also enabled the procurement of PPEs for the WARIF frontline Healthcare staff to facilitate their sustained engagement with the increasing number of affected persons.
The WARIF Rape Crisis Centre has so far treated 2204 beneficiaries who have benefited from medical treatment, forensic testing, psychosocial therapy, and social welfare programs. Survivors from various parts of Lagos State were given care protocols (internationally accepted protocols).
Over the years through proactive leadership and collaboration, P&G has tailored efforts to grow the reach and impact of positive action for communities, equality, and the environment in Nigeria.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has explained why it initiated a move to freeze the bank account of the Osun State government.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Governor of Osun State, Mr Ademola Adeleke, claimed that the anti-money laundering agency asked one of its bankers, First Bank, not to release funds to the state government.
According to the Governor, this was part of the strategies to frustrate his administration ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship election in the state.
Reacting to the issue on Wednesday night, the EFCC, in a statement, said it has been investigating the state government since March 2026 over an alleged “fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) account to the tune of N11.0 billion.
The organisation noted that some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of Post No Debit order on its account but for the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
“The commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” parts of the statement said.
In the disclosure, the agency noted that its preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources, stressing that it cannot “watch idly while a state government’s account is being pillaged.”
“While the commission is fully aware of the impending governorship election in Osun State, it has a responsibility to act in defence of the sanctity of the funds of the state. It will be uncharitable for the commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms to perform its legally-assigned functions,” it pointed out.
The EFCC disclosed that it is “keeping watch over the finances of other states like Osun State. Many of these states are on the investigative radar of the commission to ensure accountability and probity. The commission has always pointed out that it is non-partisan and non-sectarian but always working in the overall interests of Nigerians. The Osun State government account was frozen to save public funds from being looted.”
The organisation urged the public “to ignore false narratives and deliberate demonisation of the works of the EFCC. The interests of all Nigerians are greater and will always be protected by the commission.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has launched a mobile application designed to monitor fuel consumption patterns in real time across retail outlets nationwide.
The NMDPRA, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The deployment of the mobile application aligns with the authority’s broader efforts to leverage technology to improve regulatory compliance and strengthen accountability.
The pilot phase of the project began on August 1 in Abuja and its six Area Councils, the authority said in a statement published on X.
As part of the rollout, the Executive Director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, led a team alongside officials from the Abuja Regional Office to assess the readiness and operational performance of the digital platform at participating retail outlets.
According to the NMDPRA, the application captures inventory and compliance data in real time, enabling regulators to monitor fuel distribution more effectively while improving operational efficiency across the sector.
The authority said the platform would generate reliable, data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen national energy security planning and enhance transparency in the downstream petroleum industry.
It added that the initiative is expected to provide significant value to government, investors, operators and other stakeholders by improving access to accurate fuel consumption and compliance data.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has undergone significant changes since the deregulation of the petrol market and the removal of fuel subsidies, with regulators placing greater emphasis on data-driven supervision to ensure product availability, prevent supply disruptions and discourage sharp regional disparities in distribution.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No doubt, moving money among African markets remains a slow, fragmented process that relies on multiple intermediaries and prolonged settlement cycles.
To solve this issue and drive the development of stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses across the continent, Onafriq has joined forces with a leading stablecoin infrastructure provider, Privy.
The collaboration will enable Onafriq to create and manage embedded digital asset solutions for its partners and, in time, institutional clients where regulation allows. The initial phase focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers and treasury and settlement workflows, creating the foundation for future cross-border payment and liquidity solutions.
Integrating Privy’s secure infrastructure enables Onafriq to build the capabilities required to support a new generation of efficient digital payment services for banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
This partnership is a key component of Onafriq’s broader strategy to modernise pan-African payment infrastructure, enabling secure multi-modal wallets and more efficient movement of value across the continent.
The outcome will support a range of future institutional use cases, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, treasury management and liquidity services, as it reflects Onafriq’s commitment to driving Africa’s digital transformation agenda by investing in technologies that make financial services more efficient, connected and accessible.
It was gathered that Onafriq selected Privy for its enterprise-grade infrastructure to enable the seamless integration of digital asset wallet capabilities into its products, subject to regulatory approval, and deliver a simple user experience while abstracting the complexity of blockchain technology.
“At Onafriq, we keep investing in technology that makes payments faster and more accessible. Privy gives us a building block for faster settlement and better liquidity management. As demand for digital asset services grows, our goal is to ensure Africa’s payment ecosystem benefits securely and in line with regulatory frameworks,” the Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Onafriq,” Mr Luke Kyohere, said.
The chief executive of Privy, Mr Henri Stern, said, “Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement. Working with Onafriq allows us to help build that foundation across Africa and beyond.”
