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Lagos APC Governorship aspirant disowns consensus arrangement, insists on primary election

Funso OLOJO, Editor
An aspirant in the Lagos State governorship race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Olokun Lanre Jim-Kamal, has rejected the idea of consensus candidacy within the party, insisting that all aspirants must participate in governorship primaries ahead of the 2027 election.
Jim-Kamal stated this on Monday in Lagos during the unveiling of his five-point agenda for the state, where he also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing the amended Electoral Act into law.
According to him, the amended Electoral Act has strengthened internal democracy within political parties and reduced the dominance of consensus arrangements in candidate selection.
“The Electoral Act vindicated many of us during the last House of Representatives primary election, where some endorsed candidates lost,” he said.
Speaking on the governorship race, the APC aspirant maintained that consensus arrangements often create division and resentment among party members.
“If consensus stands, the deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat, will not be running from pillar to post seeking support.
“Consensus breeds bad blood. There is nothing like consensus. We are all going for primaries,” he declared.
Jim-Kamal also announced Abiola Okoya, daughter of businessman Razaq Okoya, as his deputy governorship aspirant.
Unveiling his agenda for Lagos, the governorship hopeful promised automatic free education at all levels, free healthcare services, empowerment programmes for women and the elderly, mass housing, improved security, job creation and road infrastructure renewal.
He pledged to reconstruct roads across the state and address traffic congestion through urban renewal and housing development initiatives.
The aspirant also promised mechanised farming and fishing programmes modelled after Norway’s system, alongside plans to eliminate youth unemployment within one year of assuming office.
According to him, unemployed youths registered through local government councils would receive a monthly allowance of N100,000 pending employment, while elderly persons above 60 years and nursing mothers would receive N150,000 monthly support.
He further pledged to establish and enforce old people’s homes across Lagos State.
Jim-Kamal claimed that foreign partners were willing to invest about $50 billion in agriculture and human capital development if he secures the APC governorship ticket and wins the election.
“We have the manpower and the team. I know how to source the resources because I am a development expert.
“Our partners are ready to invest in rice farming and coconut production in Badagry,” he said.
The governorship aspirant stated that his administration would focus on correcting what he described as “the anomalies of the past” in Lagos politics and governance.
Tracing his political career, Jim-Kamal said he began active politics in 1988 when he contested for the chairmanship position under the old Ikeja Local Government as the youngest aspirant at the time.
He added that he later became involved in the formation of a youth movement known as Dynamic Youths, which expanded across the country.
According to him, he had contested for several political offices, including chairman, member of the State House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate under the defunct Alliance for Democracy and the Peoples Democratic Party before returning to the APC.
Jim-Kamal, who was also the immediate past deputy governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, said his decision to contest the Lagos governorship election was driven by the desire to “put things right in Lagos State.”
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Business

Taiwo Afolabi calls on African businesses to scale up their operations for global relevance

Gloria Odion, Maritime reporter 
Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, Chairman, SIFAX Group, has called on African entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders to prioritise the growth of large, sustainable corporations capable of competing globally, rather than operating fragmented and small-scale enterprises that limit the continent’s economic potential.
Speaking at the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda, Afolabi said Africa’s economic transformation would depend significantly on the emergence of strong indigenous corporations with the scale, structure, and capacity to drive industrialisation, create jobs, attract investment, and compete internationally.
According to him, discussions at this year’s forum reinforced the urgent need for African businesses to embrace collaboration, long-term thinking, regional integration, and strategic expansion.
He said: “Africa cannot achieve its full economic potential with thousands of weak and fragmented businesses operating in silos.
“What the continent needs are strong institutions and large corporations that can survive beyond their founders, scale across borders, attract global capital, and compete with the best companies around the world.”
Afolabi noted that while entrepreneurship remains critical to Africa’s growth story, the continent must deliberately move beyond subsistence and lifestyle businesses towards building enduring enterprises with robust governance systems, innovation capacity, and continental reach.
He stressed that African governments, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders must create enabling environments that support business scalability through improved infrastructure, access to finance, favourable regulations, and intra-African trade.
“The conversations at the Africa CEO Forum clearly showed that Africa’s future lies in integration and scale.
“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents a historic opportunity for businesses to expand beyond national borders and build truly pan-African enterprises,” he added.
Afolabi noted that SIFAX Group’s long-term vision is anchored on strengthening intra-African trade and supporting the successful implementation of AfCFTA through investments in logistics, ports, transportation, and digital finance solutions across Africa.
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Headlines

FG grants approval for more deep seaports to boost Nigeria’ s competitive edge in C/W African region 

Funso OLOJO,Editor
The Federal government of Nigeria has approved the development of additional deep seaports to complement the existing ports in Nigeria.
The measure is to boost Nigeria’s competitive edge in the West and Central Africa, enhance its dominance in the regional maritime industry and make its ports preferred destinations for vessels in the regional.
Making this disclosure was the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola while declaring open the mid year Session of the Board of Directors of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) in Lagos on Monday,on May 18th, 2026.
The meeting is themed: “Ports of the Future: Combining Logistical Resilience with Inclusive Community Development”
“Approvals have therefore been granted for the development of additional deep seaports across the country to complement existing infrastructure, strengthen supply chain resilience,and reinforce Nigeria’s position as the preferred maritime and logistics hub for West and Central Africa,” Oyetola stated.
He further noted that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains focused on modernising the nation’s port system through infrastructure renewal, digital transformation and improved operational efficiency.
The Minister explained that ongoing policy reforms and enhanced inter-agency collaboration had significantly reduced logistics bottlenecks across major seaports,leading to faster cargo evacuation, shorter vessel waiting periods and a more predictable business environment for investors and port users.
“These efforts have contributed to improved cargo evacuation,reduced vessel waiting time, greater operational efficiency, and a more predictable business environment for port users and investors,” he said.
Dr. Oyetola also described the Federal Government’s National Single Window initiative as a transformative reform aimed at streamlining cargo clearance processes through the digital integration of relevant government agencies and port operations.
In addition, he revealed that existing ports across the country would undergo extensive upgrades,including channel deepening projects intended to accommodate larger vessels and boost trade capacity.
“These upgrades are critical to ensuring that our ports remain globally competitive and capable of supporting larger volumes of trade in the years ahead,” the minister added.
On maritime security, Oyetola highlighted the success of the Deep Blue Project, noting that piracy had been eliminated from Nigerian waters while maritime crimes across the Gulf of Guinea had declined significantly.
He said the improved security environment had restored investor confidence and enhanced the region’s reputation as a safe maritime corridor for international trade.
The minister urged delegates at the PMAWCA meeting to champion initiatives that would strengthen logistical resilience across port operations and regional supply chains, while promoting sustainable port management, innovation,digital transformation and inclusive community development.
In his welcome address,the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and President of PMAWCA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, stated that West and Central Africa was experiencing renewed momentum in maritime infrastructure investment,with over $27 billion in port projects either ongoing or recently announced across the sub-region.
Dantsoho cited major developments such as the $20 billion Simandou-Morebaya Deep Sea Port project in Guinea, the $2 billion Port San Pedro project in Côte d’Ivoire, the $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos, as well as new port initiatives in Ghana and Senegal.
He also referenced ongoing investments in Nigeria’s Apapa and Tin Can Island ports,alongside APM Terminals’ recently announced $600 million investment commitment.
According to him,ports in West and Central Africa must evolve beyond their traditional function as cargo transit gateways and become catalysts for broader blue economy development.
“The future of the sector lies in areas such as renewable marine energy, aquaculture, sustainable fisheries, coastal tourism and marine biotechnology,” Dantsoho said.
The PMAWCA Mid-Year Session, scheduled to hold from May 18 to 20, 2026, attracted key stakeholders from government and the private sector, including the Governor of Taraba State, Dr. Kefas Agbu;Lagos State Governor represented by the Commissioner for Transportation,Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi; Chairman of Dangote Group,Alhaji Aliko Dangote; and the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination,Hadiza Bala Usman, among others.
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Analyses

THE IBOM DEEP SEAPORT: Nigeria’s ultimate counterweight in West African maritime race

Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru
“A nation’s maritime greatness is not measured by the size of its conferences, but by the depth of its waters and the speed of its cargo.”
As the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) gathers in Lagos this week to deliberate on “Ports of the Future,” the conversation surrounding regional maritime supremacy has never been more urgent.
 While the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy discuss logistical resilience, the structural limitations of Nigeria’s traditional Ports remain an elephant in the room.
To truly dominate the West and Central African sub-region and checkmate aggressive expansion from rivals like Lome and Tema, Nigeria must aggressively accelerate its ultimate maritime trump card: the Ibom Deep Sea Port (IDSP).
For decades, Nigeria’s economic heartbeat has been throttled by the geographical limitations of the Lagos Port Complex.
Even with the laudable arrival of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the nation’s maritime infrastructure remains heavily centralized, leaving the eastern flank underutilized.
The Ibom Deep Sea Port, strategically carved into the coastline of Akwa Ibom State, offers a game-changing natural advantage with its 16.5-meter design draft coupled with a wide, unrestricted navigation channel.
 Unlike the shallow, continually dredged channels of Apapa or Tin Can, IDSP requires no heavy maintenance dredging to welcome the world’s largest modern container vessels.
It is engineered to comfortably host Post-Panamax ships, effectively breaking the structural monopoly of regional hubs and positioning Nigeria as the definitive transshipment destination for the Gulf of Guinea.
Beyond these engineering metrics, the actualization of the Ibom Deep Sea Port represents a masterstroke in economic decentralization.
Strategically located within the Ibom Industrial City multi-product free zone, the Port sits squarely along major global shipping routes.
For Akwa Ibom State and the broader South-South and South-East geopolitical zones, IDSP is the catalyst for a massive industrial rebirth, promising to unlock over 10,000 direct jobs and establish a new industrial manufacturing corridor that feeds directly into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Yet, in the theater of governance, the standard remains Facta Non Verba—deeds, not words.
The recent submission of the Comprehensive Feasibility Report to Governor Umo Eno in April 2026 has reignited a fierce debate: does this document signal the dawn of a maritime revolution, or is it merely another chapter in a long-running political anthology?
For the people of Akwa Ibom State, the story of the IDSP has, for decades, been governed by Res Ipsa Loquitur—the thing speaks for itself—where the prolonged absence of an operational Port tells its own story of political promises fading into the sunset.
To change this narrative, the project must escape what is currently a technical reality trapped in a financial purgatory.
The road to actualizing the Port remains entangled in bureaucratic bottlenecks, complex Public-Private Partnership (PPP) negotiations, and shifting federal priorities.
 A project of this magnitude, requiring billions in investment, cannot bypass rigorous technical gestation periods.
However, as Minister Gboyega Oyetola champions the Blue Economy agenda at PMAWCA, the IDSP must move from a recurring item on the promotional checklist to a top-tier national infrastructure priority.
 Securing international consortium backing and streamlining regulatory approvals from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) must be handled with the utmost urgency because public necessity outweighs private or localized interests.
The real test of sincerity lies in the immediate transition from documentation to mobilization.
The next true sign of life for the IDSP will not be found in another boardroom presentation, but in the finalization of the concession agreement with the Bollore Consortium and the actual flag-off of dredging and breakwater construction, currently projected for late 2026.
Only when the first piling is driven into the seabed will the project move from the realm of political possibility into the undeniable light of economic reality.
Ultimately, you cannot build a “Port of the Future” on yesterday’s infrastructure.
 While the PMAWCA roundtable in Lagos offers a fantastic platform for regional diplomacy, Nigeria’s true maritime liberation lies in the completion of deep-water frontiers like Ibom.
If the Federal Government is serious about Port resilience, trade connectivity, and sub-regional domination, the Ibom Deep Sea Port must be treated as what it truly is: a non-negotiable national security and economic imperative.
Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja. 
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