General News
FCSC Boss: Amend Universities Acts for Smarter Funding, Governance Autonomy
By Michael Lim
A fundamental review of the legal framework governing Nigerian universities to grant them greater operational, academic autonomy and enable them to explore innovative funding mechanisms has been canvassed by Prof Tunji Olaopa.
Olaopa who is also the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), made the call on Thursday in Abuja while speaking as chairman of the occasion at a special convening on “University Governance and the Corporate World: Towards an ‘All-of-People’ Approach to Financing Federal University Lokoja”.
He said the existing legal and governance framework had created bottlenecks that constrained universities’ ability to mobilise resources, conduct research and respond effectively to the needs of industry and society.
According to him, the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other stakeholders should collaborate to achieve the fundamental review.bin his view:
“This will entail initiating amendment to existing university establishment Acts, to grant full operational and academic autonomy to universities.”
Olaopa, however, stressed that greater autonomy must be accompanied by stronger accountability and a financing framework linked to clearly defined objectives and measurable outcomes.
An “all-of-people partnership model” is what he canvasses that would expand university governance beyond the traditional structures of governing councils and senates to incorporate industry, host communities, alumni, trade unions and other stakeholders.
He further criticised the separation of strategic planning from budgeting in many universities, saying the practice often resulted in duplication, administrative silos and wastage of scarce resources.
He argued that no new academic programme, building project or recruitment initiative should be approved unless it was aligned with a specific key performance indicator contained in an institution’s strategic plan.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Prof. Gbenga Solomon Ibileye, has called on the private sector, development partners, alumni and other stakeholders to invest in the university, describing the institution as an investment opportunity rather than one dependent solely on government funding.
“I am here to invite you to investment, and to speak to you in the language that every serious investor understands, which is the language of returns on investment,” Ibileye said.
He added: “I am here to present Federal University Lokoja not as an institution waiting for charity, but as an institution offering opportunity: viable, high-demand business opportunities within a secure and federally backed institutional environment.”
The vice-chancellor said FUL, established in 2011, had grown to more than 30,000 students, with 17 faculties, a College of Postgraduate Studies and a College of Health Sciences spread across two campuses.
He added that the rapid growth in student population and academic programmes had created a corresponding demand for infrastructure and services that government funding alone could no longer adequately meet.
Ibileye identified purpose-built student hostels, faculty and staff accommodation, conference and hospitality facilities, commercial and mixed-use developments, research laboratories, innovation and incubation facilities, cloud and computing infrastructure, agriculture, a hospital and a solar farm as some of the investment opportunities available at the university.
He described student accommodation as one of the immediate opportunities, citing the widening gap between demand and available facilities.
Under the proposed arrangement, he said investors could finance, construct and operate accommodation facilities, recover their investments during an agreed concession period and subsequently transfer the assets to the university.
He also identified staff and faculty housing as another investment opportunity, saying decent accommodation would help the institution attract and retain academic and non-academic personnel as it expanded.
Ibileye said FUL’s location in Lokoja, at the confluence of the Rivers Niger and Benue and about 200 kilometres from Abuja, offered additional commercial, hospitality and real estate opportunities.
On technology, he said the university was positioning itself for the emerging knowledge economy through programmes in artificial intelligence, cyber security, data science and software engineering.
He disclosed that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) had approved a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences for the university, creating opportunities for corporate investment in research laboratories, innovation hubs, computing infrastructure, scholarships, faculty development and technology commercialisation.
The vice-chancellor said the university would operate three broad partnership models: Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), Public-Private Partnership (PPP), and Lease and Joint Venture.
Under the BOT model, he explained that investors would finance, construct and operate projects, recover their investments during the concession period and transfer the assets to the university at the expiration of the agreement.
The PPP model, he said, would involve the university and investors sharing development responsibilities, risks and returns, while the lease and joint venture arrangement would allow investors to develop and operate projects on university land.
Ibileye assured prospective investors that the university would provide a regulated framework, clearly defined agreements, transparent risk allocation and mechanisms for investment recovery.
He urged real estate developers, financial institutions, technology companies, telecommunications firms, energy companies, development partners, alumni and high-net-worth individuals to take advantage of the opportunities.
Earlier, the Director of Alumni Relations and Linkages, Prof. Abel Joseph, said the initiative was designed to change the longstanding perception that funding a federal university was exclusively the responsibility of government.
Joseph said FUL’s rapid expansion had created urgent needs in infrastructure, research funding, student support and innovation, making alternative sources of financing necessary to complement government support.
He said the “All-of-People” approach recognised the shared interest of government, alumni, corporate organisations, host communities, parents and other stakeholders in the development of the university.
Joseph called for stronger collaboration between universities and the corporate sector, noting that while industry required research, innovation and skilled manpower, universities could benefit from industry’s practical knowledge, mentorship and financial resources.
He said such collaboration could transform FUL from a conventional degree-awarding institution into a solutions-oriented university capable of responding directly to national and industrial challenges.
The initiative, he added, formed part of the university’s Vision Plan 2026–2031.
The Abuja convening brought together university officials, members of the governing council, corporate representatives, alumni, development partners and other stakeholders to examine FUL’s investment prospectus and possible partnership models.
General News
Arrested Ugandan Woman Came With Bible: On Way Back, Hid 87 Cocaine Wraps in Her Private Part
By Seyi Balogun, Lagos
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, operative have arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine from Nigeria to Uganda.
Nansubuga was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 3, while preparing to board a flight to Uganda.
The NDLEA said 87 wraps of cocaine were recovered from her pelvic region, strapped beneath two layers of underwear.
According to a statement by Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, , on Sunday, the suspect arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos State.
Babafemi said the other members of her delegation had returned to Uganda after the prayer session, but Nansubuga remained in Nigeria to allegedly collect the cocaine on behalf of a friend identified as Joy, who lives in Uganda.
He said the suspect was intercepted during a joint passenger screening exercise involving NDLEA operatives and aviation security personnel at Terminal 2 of the airport.
“She came to Nigeria with members of her church for spiritual renewal at a prayer session in Lagos. But when it was time to go home, 34-year-old Ugandan, Ms Farida Nansubuga, chose a different path. While the rest of her delegation flew back to Uganda, she stayed behind, not to pray some more, but to pick up a consignment of cocaine, which she hid in her private part in a bid to smuggle it into her country.
“Her plan, however, came crashing down at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, 3rd November 2026, when operatives of the NDLEA intercepted her at the screening point of Terminal 2 during a joint passenger screening exercise with aviation security personnel. She was due to board a Ugandan airline flight to her home country,” the statement partly read.
Preliminary investigation, according to him, reportedly disclosed that a contact in Nigeria arranged a vehicle to convey her to a hotel on the morning of her scheduled departure, where an unidentified man handed her the drugs.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that she was instructed to conceal the cocaine beneath her clothing to evade airport security screening.
He said, “During preliminary interview, the suspect said she arrived in Nigeria on 29th October 2026 with members of her church for a prayer session at The Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ikotun Egbe area of Lagos. She claimed that after the prayer session, the other members of her delegation returned to Uganda while she stayed back to collect the illicit consignment on behalf of a friend, simply identified as Joy, who resides in Uganda.”
She reportedly said that although no definite payment was agreed upon, she expected to receive at least $1,000 after successfully delivering the consignment in Uganda.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the incident as a reminder of how drug cartels exploit religious activities and travel to recruit couriers.
Marwa, while commending officers involved in the arrest, urged personnel across the agency’s commands to sustain efforts to tackle drug trafficking and abuse.
“The case of the Ugandan woman is a sad reminder that drug cartels will stop at nothing, including exploiting faith and religious travel, to recruit couriers for their deadly trade. I urge officers across all commands to sustain the tempo of their supply and demand reduction efforts, ” he said.
The arrest was among several drug seizures and arrests recorded by the agency across the country.
Babafemi said a similar operation at the Lagos airport, operatives intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilogrammes and valued at N900m.
The consignment, which arrived from India aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight, was allegedly declared as Paracetamol tablets.
“In another interception at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 6th November uncovered 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526 kilograms with a street value of N900 million, in a consignment from India declared as Paracetamol Tablets 500mg. The consignment, made up of eleven cartons packed in two wooden structures, arrived at the import shed of the airport on Tuesday 3rd November aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Ahmedabad, India,” he said.
He further said the agency also intercepted 32 parcels of Loud weighing 16.15 kilogrammes, concealed in two wooden sofas in a cargo shipment from Houston, United States.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives intercepted 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in female headwear in a shipment destined for the United Kingdom.
The agency also recovered 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes from two cartons being shipped to the UK.
Earlier, the agency had intercepted a large consignment of illicit drugs cleverly concealed in imported furniture, specifically sofas, and women’s headgear.
After cutting through the outer packaging and internal foam and padding, operatives recovered multiple sealed packages of suspected narcotics hidden within the furniture.
By Vincent Tyosuugh
An investigation has been launched into the alleged fraud surrounding the award of over N100 billion contracts for the construction of technical colleges in Benue State, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The investigation is allegedly coming on the heels of petitions from more than 60 contractors to the EFCC claiming to have been defrauded by some government officials.
The investigation led to the interrogation of four senior state government officials, the former Commissioner for Education and Knowledge Management, now Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals, Rev. Frederick Ikyaan.
Other key government officials questioned by the EFCC Makurdi Zonal Directorate are the incumbent Commissioner for Education, Mrs Margaret Adamu; Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Timothy Ornguga; and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs Helen Nambativ.
The complaining contractors allegedly mobilised personal funds to commence construction of some technical colleges across the state, after being assured that the projects had government approval.
But an anonymous EFCC source, according to Daily Trust said the contracts, valued at over N100 billion, were allegedly awarded last year without the approval of Governor Hyacinth Alia.
The source claimed that one Lawrence Kyaku, who reportedly presented himself as a Senior Special Assistant to the governor, persuaded the contractors to commence work, claiming that he had the administration’s approval.
He further said that Kyaku collected huge sums of money from some contractors under the guise of facilitating the projects, including over N100 million from one contractor and N50 million from another.
“The man had been claiming he is the SSA to the Governor and was deceiving the contractors to go ahead. He also deceived the commissioner that he had the governor’s backing to do the work.”
The source added that the contractors began raising concerns when they encountered difficulties securing payment for work already executed, prompting them to petition the anti-graft agency.
He further disclosed that the EFCC was investigating a letter allegedly signed by the Attorney-General, Prof. Ornguga, directing contractors to pay one percent of their contract sums into a designated bank account as vetting fees.
According to the source, the letter and the account details reinforced the contractors’ belief that the projects were genuine government contracts, encouraging them to invest their resources.
“This one percent may look to you as a small amount, but when it involves a huge amount, it is huge,” the source said.
The commission is also examining the respective roles of the former commissioner, the incumbent commissioner, the permanent secretary and other officials in the alleged contract awards, including whether established government procedures were followed or not.
The source added that EFCC had deployed investigators to unravel the nature of the transactions, determine the amounts collected from the contractors and ascertain whether any government approvals existed for the projects.
He added that the investigation was ongoing and that the commission was yet to establish the full picture of the alleged financial transactions.
By Felix Umande
The vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has warned that the Federal High Court judgment nullifying the party’s leadership could trigger unrest if not properly managed.
Amaechi gave the warning in an interview on Mainland 98.3 FM on Saturday, saying:
“It could cause a civil war if not properly managed. When we heard the news, we quickly met, myself and the presidential candidate and the chairman of the party, and we said: ‘please, lower the tempo’.”
Last Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, nullified the National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark, in a ruling that also invalidated the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
The judgment also nullified the emergence of former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Secretary, and ordered INEC not to recognise decisions taken at the party’s 99th NEC meeting of July 27, 2025.
The suit was filed by former ADC Deputy National Chairman (North-East), Nafiu Gombe, who challenged how Mark and other members of the caretaker committee assumed control of the party.
Amaechi said the ADC leadership has appealed the ruling and urged supporters to remain calm and disciplined while the legal process unfolds.
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