News
Nationwide Shutdown: Banks, Electricity, Others to Join ASUU
Many unions and students bodies have decided join the strike in sympathy with Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from this week, which may lead to a total shut down of their operations, an action capable of exacerbating the precarious economic situation in the country.
Business Hallmark reported that the unions are irked by the government’s lackadaisical attitude to the plight of students whose future are at stake.
Unions including the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) have indicated their intentions to shut down airports in solidarity with the striking ASUU.
This is coming even as the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) stated last week that it would shut all financial institutions to join the NLC in its solidarity strike over the lingering ASUU strike. ANAP in a statement by Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu, its general secretary, called on President Mohammadu Buhari to end the strike without further delay.
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had penultimate week given notice to its members to embark on a nationwide protest on July 26 and 27 in solidarity with ASUU.
Comrade Saidu had earlier stated that the protracted strike had led to an unprecedented upsurge in social vices by students and in the process, led to a ridiculing of Nigeria’s educational system, making it a laughing stock.
“ASUU, NASU, SAUTHRIAI, NAAT had been on strike for more than four months due to the apparent failure of government to sign the re-negotiated 2009 agreement with ASUU, failure to honour the terms reached in the May 2022 MoU signed with ASUU, and habitual failure of government to respect collective bargaining agreements willingly signed with labour unions.
“Our children are using eight years to read courses of four years with resources being wasted. We cannot continue this way.”
On the same note NUBIFIE in a release by Anthony Abakpa, its national president, and Mohammed Sheikh, general secretary, said “if, after the one-day protest by NLC on this issue nothing is done, the union will have no other option than to call out all our members in banks, insurance and other financial institutions in solidarity with ASUU.”
Also, NAAPE in a statement by Umoh Ofonime, its deputy General secretary, said the refusal of the federal government to honour the agreement signed with the union since 2009 “is very disturbing considering the negative impact the prolonged strike will create in the life of these children.
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) had earlier threatened to join the nationwide strike if the ASUU crisis was not immediately resolved.
The union while expressing worry and concern over the prolonged strikes by university unions, condemned what it called the “lackadaisical attitude” of the federal government towards finding a lasting solution to the crisis.
Williams Akporeha, president of NUPENG, and Afolabi Olawale, general secretary, said the strikes by ASUU, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had paralysed universities for months.
The union asked the federal government to “immediately address and resolve all demands of ASUU, NASU and SSANU without any further delay to avert national solidarity actions from our members across the country.
“The rank-and-file members of NUPENG align with the NLC’s position on protest against unfortunate situation in the tertiary education sector and will not hesitate to join in the proposed nationwide strike on the matter,” the union added.
Meanwhile, federal government is making surreptitious moves to break the ranks of the academic union.
The move to decimate their ranks appears to be yielding minimal result as already a breakaway faction of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)- Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), has dissociated itself from the ongoing strike in Nigerian universities.
In a press release authenticated by‘Niyi Sunmonu, its national coordinator, and Ernest Nwoke, national publicity secretary, CONUA noted that it is not part of its decision to embark on the ongoing strike by ASUU.
The release read in part: “The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) would like to seize this opportunity to announce its independence as a union of academic staff in Nigeria’s public universities. Being a separate and independent union, it has never been part of the decision to embark on the industrial action which has paralysed academic activities in our universities for five months now”.
CONUA said it is of the view that strikes will have a negative effect on the Nigerian university system. It added that the negative effects of the strikes have always been greater than their positive outcomes.
The union stated : “Our strongly-held view is that strikes wreak great havoc on the university system, and the concessions that are earned after every strike, over the decades, have amounted to pyrrhic victories when weighed against the systematic destruction of the local and global image of university education in Nigeria.
“Our preferred alternatives to strikes in resolving industrial disputes, therefore, include constructive engagement and constant dialogue with all stakeholders.”
“As CONUA, we are of the strong belief that strikes should never be a strategy of first recourse. Their deployment should be contemplated only when all other options have failed, and they should not appear to be motivated by a desire to cause maximum damage.”
The union noted that its members continued with academic activities at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma after the strike declared by ASUU.
“In fact, before the incident which caused the students to be asked to vacate the campus, most of our members had concluded their lectures. Since it wasn’t our members who declared a strike, lumping us together with those who are on strike is therefore patently unfair,” it said.
When the federal government knew that the attempt to break the ranks of ASUU was not yielding needed results it resorted to continue the negotiation but ASUU was not impressed.
In view of this, two weeks ago, President Buhari ordered Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour who has been leading the negotiations with ASUU to step down from ongoing negotiation with the body .
ASUU has on its part has repeatedly blamed Dr. Ngige for allegedly constituting clog in the wheel of the progress of the negotiation towards addressing the crisis.
Buhari gave the directive during a briefing by the heads of the various concerned ministries, departments and agencies of government penultimate Tuesday in Abuja. He also agreed to the suggestion by Adamu Adamu, minister of Education, to take over the negotiations.
Mr. Adamu was said to have cleared the air on the protracted crisis, as he made it known to the gathering the reason behind his prolonged silence on the matter, adding that his labour and employment counterpart had since 2016 argued “that only the labour ministry has the mandate to negotiate with striking workers unions in Nigeria.”
Benjamin Kalu, deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, has emphasized the critical role of parliaments in promoting multilateralism through digital trade.
Kalu, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Levinus Nwabughiogu, stated this at the World Trade Organization/Inter-Parliamentary Union (WTO-IPU) Steering Committee session of the WTO Public Forum 2025 on the sidelines of the ongoing 55th Parliamentary Conference, Geneva, Switzerland.
The statement noted that the deputy speaker, who spoke on the theme “Promoting Multilateralism Through Digital Trade: What Role for Parliaments?”, stated that digital trade is a defining contemporary governance challenge that shapes the daily reality of entrepreneurs and the future opportunities for youth.
He stated that that Africa is proactively building its own regional multilateralism through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its Protocol on Digital Trade, aiming for a harmonized and integrated digital market.
Kalu, while citing Nigeria’s legislative actions, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023 and the forthcoming National Digital Economy Bill, stressed that parliaments across Africa are also actively legislating the future of digital trade.
According to him, “the digital economy is no longer a distant promise; it is the daily reality of our entrepreneurs and the horizon of opportunity for our youth. In Africa, we have chosen not to wait for others to write our future.
“Through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its Protocol on Digital Trade, we are building our own regional multilateralism, a blueprint for a harmonized, integrated digital market.
“But blueprints alone do not build houses. Success depends on the laws we pass, the trust we create, and the predictability we guarantee. In Nigeria, we have acted: the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023 safeguards privacy, while the forthcoming National Digital Economy Bill will anchor e-commerce and investment in legal certainty.
“Across Africa, parliaments are not spectators; we are legislating the future. Let us be frank, rules without enforcement are illusions. For smaller economies, a binding, two-tier dispute settlement system is not optional; it is survival.”
He added that “we all know that speeches do not build futures; actions do. For us to move to coordinated action, I propose three steps: a Legislative Tracking Mechanism that engenders peer‑to‑peer accountability, requiring us to report back on how we translate our collective resolutions into concrete action within our national parliaments; Concrete WTO support for AfCFTA implementation to further deepen digital trade in Africa; and a Model Digital Trade Legislative Toolkit developed with UNCTAD and ITC, to equip parliaments with best-practice laws for a pro-development digital economy.”
Nigeria has upgraded its passport production system to meet global standards, now able to process up to 5,000 passports every day.
According to TVC, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of Interior, disclosed this during an inspection of the new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja.
He explained that the development is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which has cleared backlogs and ended long delays in passport processing.
According to him, Nigerians can now get their approved passports within 24 hours.
“The era of backlogs and manual personalisation is over. Nigerians can now expect faster, more reliable service as we strengthen the integrity of our travel documents,” Tunji-Ojo said.
The Minister added that Nigeria has now joined countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and India in adopting advanced passport systems that ensure speed, transparency, and global authentication.
He also commended the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs. Kemi Nandap, and other key officials for their contributions.
Tunji-Ojo stressed that the project, delivered through a partnership with IRIS Smart Technologies Ltd., was achieved without direct government funding.
“This project underscores our resolve to build enduring institutions rather than systems dependent on individuals,” he said.
With the new system, production has moved from 250–300 booklets per machine daily to between 4,500 and 5,000.
The Minister described the achievement as a major milestone in Nigeria’s 62-year Immigration Service history, saying it has restored confidence in the country’s travel documents.
News
AfDB Approves Equity Investment in The Currency Exchange Fund to Support Access to Local Currency Financing Across Africa
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved an equity investment of USD 25 million in The Currency Exchange Fund (TCX), a global leader in offering long-term local currency hedging solutions in emerging and frontier markets.
This strategic investment will strengthen TCX’s capital base, enhance its risk-bearing capacity, and expand its ability to offer hedging instruments in illiquid and less liquid currencies across the African continent.
The transaction will help mitigate the foreign exchange risks faced by borrowers in Africa, particularly those operating in fragile states and underserved markets. TCX operates as a development-focused fund that provides tailor-made FX hedging instruments to enable local currency lending in countries where conventional hedging markets are either underdeveloped or non-existent.
The Bank’s investment will crowd in additional DFIs and private investors, reinforce Africa’s integration into global capital markets, and support sustainable growth by reducing the mismatch between the currency of debt and revenue for local borrowers.
Ahmed Attout, Director of the financial Sector Development Department, at the African Development Bank Group, stated: “This investment in TCX marks an important milestone in the Bank’s effort to deepen African capital markets and address the root causes of debt distress. The Bank’s support to TCX will unlock local currency financing for MSMEs, infrastructure and many sectors across Africa.”
He added : “The transaction forms part of the Bank’s broader objective to promote access to adequate financing through innovative alternative solutions.”
The investment builds on the Bank’s prior participation in TCX and reflects its continued confidence in the fund’s track record and impact-driven model. TCX has hedged more than USD 17 billion in notional amounts since inception, including over USD 4 billion across 31 African countries.
The Bank’s participation is expected to facilitate increased hedging volumes in priority sectors such as the public sector (Debt Management Offices and Public Development Banks), infrastructure, energy access, microfinance, and SME development. TCX also plays a unique role in fragile and low-income countries, with around 18% of its global outstanding portfolio currently focused on such markets.
Ruurd Brouwer, TCX’s Chief Executive Officer stated : “We are thrilled to welcome African Development Bank Group to TCX’s capital base, joining fellow development finance institutions, impact investors and governments that support our local currency hedging solution. It marks the start of a close partnership in protecting AfDB’s public and private sector borrowers from currency risk and promoting the development of African capital markets. We very much look forward to increasing our joint impact on the continent.”
This operation is aligned with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy 2024–2033. It complements the Bank’s broader capital markets strategy, which includes support for local currency bond issuance, Partial Credit Guarantees, and private sector local currency lending.
The investment is expected to deliver strong development impact. The African Development Bank remains committed to fostering resilient capital markets in Africa, supporting de-risking mechanisms for the private sector, and expanding access to local currency finance to promote inclusive and sustainable development.
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