Category: Featured

By Christian ABURIME

With his glaring antecedents as a foremost academic and adoption of free education policy in Anambra State, no one doubts that Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo places high premium on education as a pillar of societal development.

This is why in the 2026 “Changing Gears 3.0” budget of ₦757.9 billion, no sector receives a louder vote of confidence than Education: a breathtaking 46.9% year-on-year increase, the highest of any major sector.

This is definitely a declaration of war on mediocrity and a key investment in the only resource that truly lasts in any society: the minds of Anambra’s children and youth as tomorrow’s leaders.

Indeed, Governor Soludo has repeatedly said that the ultimate measure of his administration will be the quality of human capital it leaves behind after office. The 46.9% leap is the financial translation of that promise.

What the budgetary increase will deliver in 2026 is quite reassuring. One is the construction of brand-new model public primary schools in 30 communities that have never had one.

For the first time in the history of those communities, children will walk to a government-built, fully equipped, 21st-century primary school instead of trekking long distances or dropping out entirely.

Aggressive upgrade of existing public primary and secondary schools will follow. Through ASUBEB and multiple parallel schemes, hundreds of classrooms, laboratories, libraries, ICT centres, perimeter fencing, and sanitation facilities will be built or renovated.

There may also be an establishment of two new specialist tertiary institutions, including possible specialisations in Engineering/Technology and Medical Sciences, areas that are critical for industrial and health-sector leapfrogging.

There will be full sustenance of the ongoing free education from kindergarten to SS3 and expanded bursary scheme. No child pays a kobo in fees, levies, or PTA charges in any public school anymore.

The 2026 budget may also increase the number of university and polytechnic bursaries awarded to indigent students.

Deeper partnership with mission schools will be pursued. A high-level committee will be inaugurated to identify new areas of support beyond the current ₦1.2 billion monthly salary bill the state already pays for teachers in returned mission schools.

Towards digital education push,
completion and equipping of additional smart schools, rollout of tablets and broadband connectivity to more secondary schools, and teacher retraining in digital pedagogy will be a viable goal.

Teachers’ welfare will remain a top priority. Continued prompt payment of salaries, promotion, arrears clearance, and massive in-service training to maintain Anambra’s status as home to Nigeria’s best-trained public-school teachers.

As the foregoing educational initiatives are pursued and implemented, there will expectedly be a positive impact on state development.

Permanent closure of the out-of-school-children gap will be guaranteed. Anambra already has the lowest rate in Nigeria. The 2026 investments will push it close to zero, ensuring universal basic education becomes reality, not rhetoric.

Public-school enrolment has already risen 47% (secondary) and 27% (primary) since 2022. The new infrastructure and quality improvements will accelerate this trend, easing pressure on expensive private schools and making quality education genuinely democratic.

Long-term crime reduction will follow, as every child kept in school is one less recruit for touts, cultists, or internet fraudsters. Education remains the most powerful anti-crime vaccine.

Smart schools, specialist tertiary institutions, and digital-skills integration will produce graduates who are not just employable but capable of creating the next Flutterwave, Andela, or Paystack from Anambra soil. In national and global competitiveness, Anambra students already dominate WAEC, JAMB, and Olympiad medals.

The 46.9% investment will turn dominance into absolute supremacy, attracting research grants, partnerships with top global universities, and prestige that money alone cannot buy.

In other words, the 46.9% budgetary increase for the Education sector is the single most important line item in the entire 2026 budget. Roads will not last forever, factories will modernise along the way, but the minds shaped in 2026 will still be leading Anambra, Nigeria, and Africa into the future.

Thus Governor Soludo is building the future architects of the African Dubai-Taiwan-Silicon Valley he has promised. When the history of Anambra’s rise is written, this education revolution will be chapter one.

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo.

The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has noted, with understandable amusement, the latest political fantasy being peddled by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) – a party that cannot hold a worthwhile ward meetings now suddenly seeking “citizens’ cooperation” to take over a state globally acknowledged as Nigeria’s model for sustained governance, innovation, and leadership.

Let it be stated clearly:
Lagos is not a laboratory for political apprentices. Lagos is not up for grabs. And Lagos is certainly not a charity project for emergency parties seeking relevance through laughable headlines.

The ADC’s posturing is nothing but a comical attempt to inflate political balloon with the hot air of wishful thinking. A party without structures, without ideas, without credible candidates, and without electoral footprints cannot – and will not – take over a state built through decades of vision, continuity, competence, and unmatched performance.

ADC Should First Take Over Its Polling Units Before Talking About Lagos

In 2023 and even before then, the ADC struggled to fill a bus stop with its entire membership. The same party is now promising to overrun a state with over 20 million people, world-class infrastructure, and the most sophisticated electorate in Nigeria. Indeed, there should be limits to political comedy.

We encourage the ADC to first take internal attendance at its next party meeting.
If they achieve a quorum, perhaps then they can graduate to contesting councillorship seats before dreaming of Alausa.

Governance Is Earned Through Capacity – Not Social Media Echo Chambers

Lagosians know the difference between real governance and idle political theatrics.
They have witnessed transformative leadership from the days of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through Babatunde Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode, and now Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu – leaders whose vision and continuity have placed Lagos on the global map.

What exactly does the ADC offer beyond press statements and periodic fantasy-driven declarations?
No blueprint.
No record.
No structure.
No credibility.

Lagos APC Will Defend Its Mandate, Its Legacy, and Its Future

The ADC’s hallucination about “taking over Lagos” is dead on arrival.
Lagos remains the stronghold of progressive politics and will continue to consolidate on decades of unmatched results. Our party remains deeply rooted at the grassroots, fully aligned with the aspirations of Lagosians, and committed to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The people of Lagos are not confused.
They know who works.
They know who delivers.
They know who has a plan – and who merely has press releases.

Conclusion

We advise the ADC to focus on building a party before dreaming of governing a state. Lagos APC welcomes competition, but what the ADC brings is not competition – it is political comedy. And Lagosians are far too enlightened to be entertained by such amateur performances.

Lagos is not in play. Lagos is not confused. Lagos is not an experiment. Lagos is firmly APC – in 2027 and beyond.

 

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo.
Lagos APC Spokesman

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo

The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wholeheartedly commends President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his bold declaration of a national security emergency and the approval of an additional 20,000 new police recruits – a historic measure that brings the total security intake under his administration to an unprecedented 50,000 new personnel, following the earlier recruitment approval of 30,000 officers.

This is leadership in its purest form – decisive, courageous, and unflinchingly focused on restoring peace and stability across Nigeria.

Tinubu Calls for Legislative Action – A Complete Rethink of National Security

In a move that is not only unprecedented but also reinforces his commitment to comprehensive security reforms, President Tinubu has also called on the National Assembly to urgently review existing laws to empower states to establish state police where necessary.

This is a clear departure from decades of lip-service paid to decentralised policing. President Tinubu is not only confronting insecurity with manpower and resources; he is restructuring the very foundations of Nigeria’s policing architecture to meet the realities of modern threats.

No President in recent history has shown this level of boldness and clarity in tackling long-standing constitutional bottlenecks that have hampered security enforcement at sub-national levels.

A Government of Action, Not Excuses

The recruitment of 20,000 new officers – now totalling 50,000 under Tinubu – signifies:
• A reinvigorated national security posture
• A decisive shift from reactive to offensive operations
• A government willing to take hard decisions for the safety of its people

While habitual critics trade in alarmism, President Tinubu is expanding capacity, reinforcing intelligence, and strengthening the boots-on-ground required to overwhelm criminal cartels and their enablers.

This is the type of strategic leadership Nigeria has long needed – and now has.

The Opposition Can Take Notes

Those who left Nigeria vulnerable through negligence, mismanagement, and incompetence should be the last to question a President who is doing what they never attempted.

They never recruited at this scale.
They never reformed at this depth.
They never summoned the courage to push for state policing.

President Tinubu is rebuilding what they recklessly dismantled.

A Turning Point in the War Against Insecurity

With a combined intake of 50,000 officers, strengthened intelligence coordination, and potential constitutional reform to establish state police, Nigeria is entering a decisive phase in its security evolution.

This is more than a policy –
it is a national reset.

Lagos APC’s Final Word

Nigeria is in safe hands.
Nigeria is protected by a President who leads with vision and courage.
Nigeria is advancing toward a future where security is guaranteed, not gambled with.

The Lagos APC proudly stands with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as he takes bold, historic steps to secure every Nigerian, in every state, without exception.

 

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo
Lagos APC Spokesman

By Christian ABURIME

Still fresh from his recent re-election, Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo on Tuesday 25, November 2025, stood before the Anambra State House of Assembly to present the 2026 Budget of ₦757.9 billion that will herald his second term.

It is a significant 24% increase over the previous year and the most ambitious capital-heavy budget in the state’s recent history. Rightly tagged “Changing Gears 3.0: Solution Continues,” the proposal is more than a financial blueprint; it is an emphatic declaration that Anambra’s renaissance is now accelerating, not pausing at all.

Buoyed by an unprecedented 73% landslide re-election victory, the loudest democratic endorsement in the state’s history, Governor Soludo has turned the renewed mandate into rocket fuel. Where the first term laid unbreakable foundations, the second term promises to raise an entirely new skyline.

The numbers speak for themselves: 79% of the 2026 budget (₦595.3 billion) is devoted to capital projects, such as roads, bridges, new cities, schools, hospitals, digital hubs, and industrial zones, while recurrent spending is held to a disciplined 21%.

This 79:21 capital-to-recurrent ratio reaffirms Governor Soludo’s acclaimed fiscal prudence and proves a deliberate choice to build tomorrow rather than consume today. Duly rated on verifiable indices, Anambra now ranks number one in Nigeria for fiscal transparency and fiscal sustainability, proof that frugality and vision can co-exist.

Of course, ratings would be pointless without impact. In Anambra today, the physical transformation is already breathtaking. Over 900 kilometres of roads are under construction, 600 km already asphalted in just 44 months, an average of 14 km of brand-new, high-quality roads every month.

Eight bridges, the iconic Aroma Link Bridge, the completed Ekwulobia Flyover, and the new ‘Light House’ Government House and Governor’s Lodge have ended decades of infrastructural deficit.

The Solution Fun City, now West Africa’s largest leisure and entertainment complex in Awka, welcomed over 100,000 visitors in its first three months. A 10-storey five-star hotel, a continental-scale shopping mall, Agulu Lake Beach Resort, and Awka City Park are all racing towards completion. Surely, the African Dubai-Taiwan-Silicon visualisation of Anambra is taking shape.

Yet, Governor Soludo’s vision goes far beyond concrete and steel, fun and fanfare. In education, the revolution is historic: 8,115 new teachers have been hired so far, public-school enrolment has gone up 47% in secondary and 27% in primary, and Anambra now boasts the lowest out-of-school-children rate in Nigeria! Twenty-two smart schools are fully operational, public schools are sweeping national awards, and mission schools receive over ₦1.2 billion monthly in salary support. In 2026, the state will build brand-new model primary schools in 30 communities that have never had one and establish two new specialist tertiary institutions.

Healthcare tells a similar story of compassion and competence. Ndi Anambra have enjoyed free antenatal care and delivery for 161,197 women with zero maternal mortality, plus 594 free caesarean sections.

Four of the five new general hospitals have been commissioned in areas where there were none, 326 Primary Health Centres are being moderniaed with solar power and boreholes, a new Trauma Centre is completed, and an Oncology-specialist teaching hospital is on the way.

The youth are the beating heart of Governor Soludo’s Solution agenda. The One Youth, Two Skills programme has already graduated 13,300 “young millionaires.”

Nearly 100,000 youths have received digital training, and the iconic Solution Innovation District, Anambra’s own Silicon Valley, is nearing completion. In 2026, the programme will scale even further, consolidating Anambra’s place as Nigeria’s emerging tech-talent powerhouse.

Security, once a dark cloud over the state, has been banished. From the nightmare of 2021-2022, Anambra is now widely regarded as one of the safest, if not the safest, states in Nigeria.

Criminality, touting, and cultism have been met with zero tolerance, and normalcy has returned even to formerly troubled zones where unknown gunmen held sway.

Looking ahead, 2026 will see the commencement of the Anambra Mixed-Use Industrial City, the take-off of three new urban centres, namely Awka 2.0, Greater Niger, and the Aerotropolis/New Industrial-Commercial City, and the aggressive pursuit of PPP funding for the state’s Rail Masterplan. Clean water schemes will expand, the Anambra Electricity Market will open to massive private investment, and tens of thousands of poor households will receive free high-value economic seedlings and micro-grants.

Thus, going by his 2026 budget proposal, Governor Soludo’s message is crystal clear: there is no room for excuses. Even with a volatile macroeconomic environment and a naira whose purchasing power has been battered by inflation, Anambra refuses to slow down.

Every kobo will be accounted for, every project will be executed with speed and excellence, and every community, urban or rural, rich or poor, will feel the touch of progress.

Anambra State is no longer just rising. Right under Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s focused, disciplined, and intentional leadership, it is sprinting towards its destiny as a livable, prosperous, smart mega city that will make every Ndi Anambra’s son and daughter proud.

Yes, the Solution continues. Truly, the journey is accelerating. And the best, as the Governor promised, is yet to come.

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo

The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wholeheartedly welcomes and supports the timely, forthright and pragmatic call by South-West Governors urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to accelerate the establishment of State Police across the federation.

For years, our region has been at the forefront of advocating for a modern, community-rooted security architecture capable of responding swiftly and intelligently to evolving threats. The South-West Governors have once again demonstrated leadership, unity of purpose, and a clear understanding of the security realities confronting our nation. Their position aligns squarely with the long-standing progressive philosophy of our party: security must be local to be effective.

President Tinubu has consistently shown the political will to reform, strengthen and modernize Nigeria’s internal security framework. The call by the Governors only reinforces the President’s already established commitment to a responsive, people-centered and technologically enhanced security ecosystem.

The Lagos APC therefore affirms the following:

1. The Call Is Timely, Logical and Inevitable

The security challenges facing the country require multi-layered policing solutions. State Police – properly designed, professionally regulated and federally coordinated- will bring security closer to communities, improve intelligence gathering, and deter crime in real time.

2. The South-West Continues to Lead by Example

From the Amotekun initiative to consistent investment in local security infrastructure, the South-West has proven that decentralized security works. The call for State Police is simply the next logical step.

3. President Tinubu Has the Will- and the Mandate – to Deliver

The President has repeatedly emphasized his resolve to secure every inch of Nigeria. The ongoing reforms in the military, police and intelligence community demonstrate that this administration is not shying away from bold decisions. State Police will be another milestone in this journey.

4. National Security Must Remain Above Politics

Those who attempt to politicize or misrepresent this conversation for cheap popularity betray the seriousness of the moment. Nigerians deserve honest dialogue and practical solutions-not fearmongering or mischief.

5. Lagos APC Stands with the President and the Governors

We reaffirm our total support for both the Renewed Hope security reforms and the united stance of South-West leaders. The security of our people is non-negotiable.

The time for State Police is not just ripe- it is overdue.
The Lagos APC is fully aligned with this patriotic call and urges all stakeholders nationwide to join hands with President Tinubu to deliver a safer, stronger and more secure Nigeria for all.

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo
Lagos APC Spokesman

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo.

The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wishes to respond with justified brutality to the latest round of intellectual laziness from the erstwhile self-acclaimed largest party in Africa, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has “surrendered” to terrorists.

Let it be clear:
Only a frustrated, irrelevant, and idea-bankrupt opposition would mistake strategic leadership for surrender.
PDP is simply angry that Nigeria is not burning the way it desperately hoped for.

PDP’s Armageddon Prophecy Has Collapsed – And It Hurts Them Badly

Nothing exposes the PDP’s hypocrisy more than the successful rescue of the Eruku 38.
Their safe return – secured through intelligence-driven, coordinated operations – has shattered the opposition’s dream of a collapsing nation.

Even more painful for them is the steady, coordinated progress toward freeing the remaining captives in the kidnappers’ enclave.
These are the results of leadership, not the emotional press releases and tearful excuses that defined the PDP’s 16 wasted years.

Now that insecurity is being dismantled, the PDP will have to manufacture a new tragedy to stay relevant because their favourite political oxygen is running out.

We understand their distress.

PDP Reached the Peak of Foolishness: Calling Tinubu’s Cancelled Foreign Trip “Tokenism”

It was the height of mindlessness and illogical reasoning for the PDP to describe President Tinubu’s decision to cancel his foreign trip in order to personally take charge of the rescue operations as “tokenism.”

Only a party that treated governance like beer-parlour gossip would trivialize such an act of responsibility.
When a Commander-in-Chief suspends foreign engagements to coordinate a national security operation, it is called leadership – not the nonchalance that defined the PDP era.

They should be advised:
It is sometimes honorable to keep quiet when there is absolutely nothing sensible to say.
Their silence would have saved them this embarrassment.

PDP Has the Moral Authority of a Pickpocket Lecturing on Integrity

This is the same PDP that:
• Watched Boko Haram grow into a monster,
• Lost territories to terrorists,
• Negotiated ransom payments like a routine government function,
• Allowed citizens to be abducted in hundreds,
• Turned Nigeria into a global symbol of insecurity.

A party with this stain on its record is not qualified to lecture President Tinubu on security.

Tinubu is fixing what PDP destroyed.
That is the truth they cannot stomach.

Temporary School Closures Are Not Surrender – They Are Strategic Protection

Only PDP, in its characteristic shallowness, would prefer children be exposed to danger just so it can convene another doom-laden press conference.

A temporary, intelligence-guided suspension of school activities is called prevention
-a concept the PDP never understood in 16 years of governance-by-negligence.

Tinubu Is Doing What PDP Could Never Do – Plan, Fight, Attack, and Win

From overhauling defence leadership, procurement to deploying advanced surveillance, to strengthening inter-agency operations, President Tinubu has shown more political will in one year than PDP mustered in sixteen.

The results are visible.
The opposition is in pain.

With the Economy Rising and Insecurity Falling, PDP’s Frustration Is Understandable

As:
• Hostages are freed,
• Terror networks crumble,
• Saboteurs run for cover,
• And the economy steadily recovers,

the PDP finds itself stranded on the sidelines – angry, ashamed, and irrelevant.

We extend our empathy to them.
Losing in this national game of wits is emotionally draining.

PDP Is Unhappy Because Nigeria Is Not Failing

Let Nigerians understand this clearly:

The PDP is disappointed that Nigeria is healing.
They thrive on tragedy.
They breathe through insecurity.
They survive on economic pain.

But Nigeria is rising – painfully for them, joyfully for the citizens.

Lagos APC to PDP: You Cannot Curse a Nation and Hope to Rule It

Stop weaponizing insecurity.
Stop wishing for bloodshed.
Stop politicizing schoolchildren’s safety.
Stop disgracing your party.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the President for this season – prepared, steady, and committed to securing this nation beyond the wildest nightmares of saboteurs.

Nigeria will never return to the era of helplessness, surrender, and fear that PDP proudly authored.

 

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo
Lagos APC Spokesman

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo

The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed, with well-deserved contempt, the latest political hallucination from Rotimi Amaechi, who now claims Nigerians should “mobilise” because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can be defeated in 2027.

Amaechi is free to dream, but he must stop mistaking his nightmares for national reality.

A Man Declared Political Non-Grata Wants to Lead a National Mobilisation?

Let us start with the obvious:

Amaechi is a political orphan – disowned in Rivers, irrelevant nationally, and steadily sinking into total political oblivion.

In Rivers State today, mentioning Amaechi’s name in political discussions is viewed as a provocative joke.

A man who has lost his structure, lost his followers, and lost his voice has suddenly found the courage to lecture Nigerians on how to “mobilise.”

Mobilise who?

• The few loyalists left in his WhatsApp group?

• Politicians who abandoned him the moment he lost the presidential primaries?

• The same Rivers electorate that no longer take him seriously?

You cannot lead a national movement when your own backyard has padlocked the gate against you.

Amaechi’s Political Bitterness Is Not a National Agenda

The truth Amaechi avoids is simple:

his problem is not Tinubu – his problem is political irrelevance.

It is always the loudest losers who shout the most about 2027.

And Amaechi’s noise is nothing more than the wounded cry of someone who has not healed from the humiliation of 2022.

Tinubu Is Delivering – And That’s Why 2027 Is Not Up for Debate

While Amaechi is busy trying to resurrect his collapsed career, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing the actual work of rebuilding a nation:

• NELFUND unlocking education for millions

• CREDITCORP boosting SMEs nationwide

• Record FDI interest from Qatar, UAE, Europe and the Ogunlesi-led group

• Highway, rail, port and aviation modernization on an unprecedented scale

• Agriculture, mining and security reforms stabilising Nigeria’s future

This is why even opposition voters now admit – privately, though grudgingly – that Tinubu is miles ahead of any contender.

Amaechi Cannot Preach Mobilisation Without a Platform

The question Nigerians should ask Amaechi is simple:

Where is your political structure?

Where are your followers?

Where is your relevance?

In politics, you cannot give what you don’t have.

Amaechi cannot mobilise a nation when he cannot command a polling unit.

Tinubu’s 2027 Victory Is Not a Possibility – It Is an Unfolding Reality

Amaechi’s sudden activism is a familiar script:

failed politicians always imagine a revolution when they can no longer win elections.

But Nigerians know better.

2027 will not reward bitterness, betrayal or political tourism.

It will reward leadership, courage and results.

And Tinubu has all three in abundance.

Final Word:

Amaechi Should First Mobilise Himself Out of Political Obscurity

Nigerians are not fooled.

You don’t defeat a performing President with a disgruntled politician who has lost his home, his base, and his relevance.

Amaechi’s statement is not a rallying cry – it is a cry for help.

Tinubu cannot be defeated.

Amaechi cannot be resurrected.

End of story.

 

Mogaji (Hon) Seye Oladejo 

Lagos APC Spokesman