News
Panic as Another Toxic Waste Scare Hits Koko

Fresh toxic waste scare has hit Koko town in Warri North Local Government of Delta State, 30 years after 8,000 drums of toxic wastes were dumped in the ancient Itsekiri community by some unscrupulous Italian businessmen, according to the Nation.
The dumping of a yet unknown quantity of industrial wastes from the facilities of an oil multinational is causing panic in the community.
Sources in the town told The Nation that the materials started arriving in the community by vessels several months ago, but the panic was sparked by reports that laboratory tests have confirmed the waste to be toxic.
“Our initial reports have confirmed our fears; the materials are toxic. The tests were carried out in several facilities, including some belonging to a government agency.
“We have all the results ready now and are preparing to take the reports to the Minister of Environment before the end of this week,” a source said.
Despite the concern, more consignments of the alleged harmful materials were still being shipped to the town, last Tuesday evening.
There are fears that many children may have drunk from water sources that are likely to have been contaminated by the waste as a primary school water source is located directly near the site.
“People around the area first noticed the material sometime last year. They are being brought in by barges and trucks picked them up to the site, where they are now burying them,” a source, who asked not to be named because of ongoing investigations, told our reporter.
Nevertheless, an official of Ebenco Services, the company behind the materials, said contrary to the allegation, they are not toxic but sludge, which are being recycled.
The official, simply identified as Ebenezer, told our reporter on telephone on Tuesday night: “This is sludge and it is not toxic; it is wealth to us because we are recycling them.”
Our reporter’s request for independent verification of the recycling claim was turned down because he “needed management’s approval”.
Follow-up calls and text messages to the official on Wednesday afternoon were unanswered.
The materials were brought in from an international oil company, which runs a Joint Venture (JV) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Mr Amorighoye Mene, Secretary of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILOT), in a telephone chat with our reporter, differed with Ebenezer, stressing: ” These substances, from test reports, are toxic and dangerous to schools and residential buildings around there.
“It must be stopped and proper remediation must be done to cure the land and environment around there.”
It was gathered that the materials were brought in by several vessels and transported by truck to a populated area of the city by a local contractor.
Expectedly, the incident is causing anxiety in Koko, which attracted global attention in 1987, following the deposition of 3,500 tonnes of some of the world’s most hazardous waste comprising polychlorinated biphenyl sulphate (PCBS) and methyl melamine, among others from Italy.
Although the 1987 waste was returned to Italy in two vessels – Karin B and Deepsea Carrier – after prolonged negotiation between the Federal and Italian governments, Koko has never been the same again.
The incident coincided with the collapse of economic and social activities in the then bustling port city, which is now a ghost of itself.
Ebenco Services seems to be enjoying the support of some prominent indigenes of the community.
Shortly after our reporter contacted the company on Tuesday night, a high-ranking official of the Koko Community Executive Council called our reporter to “appeal for soft handling of the report”.
The official, who apparently did not see anything wrong in the matter, said.
“I do not know why this is coming up now; we have been on this and the man has been doing his business since without any problem. Please lets find a way to help him (contractor).”
News
Legend Internet Repays N10Bn Commercial Paper

Legend Internet Plc has announced the full and timely repayment of its Series 1 Commercial Paper under its N10bn multi-layered issuance programme, marking a key milestone in the company’s engagement with Nigeria’s debt capital market.

Aisha Abdulaziz, chief executive officer, Legend Internet Plc,
The repayment, completed on schedule and in full, underscores the company’s financial discipline and its continued commitment to maintaining strong investor relations in a tightening funding environment.
The Series 1 issuance had earlier attracted significant demand, recording a 119.7 per cent oversubscription at launch, reflecting strong investor appetite and confidence in the company’s credit profile, operational performance, and long-term expansion strategy.
Speaking on the repayment, Aisha Abdulaziz, chief executive officer, Legend Internet Plc, said the outcome reinforces the company’s credibility and operational strength.
“The successful repayment of our Series 1 Commercial Paper demonstrates Legend Internet’s unwavering commitment to meeting its financial obligations and maintaining the trust of the investment community.
This milestone further reinforces the strength of our business model, operational discipline, and long-term vision for building resilient digital infrastructure across Nigeria,” she said.
She added that investor confidence has remained central to the company’s funding strategy, saying, “We remain deeply appreciative of the confidence shown by our investors, advisers, issuing houses, and market partners during the issuance and throughout the tenor of the programme. Their support continues to position Legend Internet for sustainable growth and expansion.”
The Commercial Paper programme forms part of Legend Internet Plc’s broader capital strategy aimed at supporting broadband infrastructure expansion, strengthening working capital efficiency, and accelerating investment in Nigeria’s digital connectivity.
Legend Internet Plc operates as a digital infrastructure and broadband services provider, with a focus on fibre connectivity, enterprise solutions, and next-generation digital services designed to expand access and support economic inclusion across Nigeria
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
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