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All set for Realnews 12th yearly parley in Lagos, as foreign eggheads arrive
With the arrival in Lagos of Karim El Aynaoui, Executive President of the Policy Center for the New South, in Rabat, Morocco, who is the keynote speaker, eggheads in various areas of the Nigerian polity will be putting heads together in a few hours to find solutions to the challenges buffeting the country and beyond.
It will be at the 2024 of the yearly parley, put together by Realnews, one of Nigeria’s leading online news platforms, which has consistently brought leaders from all parts of the globe to brainstorm on giving answers to some of the critical problems facing Nigeria and Africa in general.
The 12th edition in the yearly ritual, tagged: RealNews Anniversary Lecture, this year’s event, which is scheduled for Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotels in Lagos, has a lineup of resource persons from Nigeria and beyond.
Maureen Chigbo, Publisher of RealNews and host of the event, in a statement, on Monday announced the arrival of El Aynaoui to Lagos, aboard Air Maroc on Monday, November 18, 2024, accompanied by Abdelhak Bassou, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco.
The lead speaker, who is also the Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster, was received by a team of the magazine’s top staff led b Chigbo, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.
The statement, read: “The Realnews Lecture, which has held consecutively for 11 years beginning from 2014 will centre on “Africa in world shifting geopolitics, matters arising on democracy, technology, artificial intelligence, natural resources” and will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
“El Aynaoui’s contributions at the Policy Center for the New South, pcns, a Moroccan Think Tank that works to improve social and economic public policies in Africa and the Global South makes him a perfect fit for this year’s theme.
“He is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of director of economics, statistics, and international relations.
“At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the research department and equally a member of the governor’s cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an economist for its regional units of the Middle East and North Africa and Africa.
“El Aynaoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. His recent research has been focused on growth and the labour market in Morocco, as well as on reforming international development economy.
“EL Aynaoui holds scientific and advisory positions at various institutions. He is currently a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel, the scientific committee of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, the scientific council of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, the International Board of Leonardo Medor Foundation, the advisory council of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy of the American University of Cairo, Morocco’s Chapter of the Confrérie des Compagnons de Gutenberg. He serves as advisor to the CEO and Chairman of OCP Group and is a board member of OCP Foundation.
“He holds a Phd in economics from the University of Bordeaux in France where he taught courses in statistics and economics for three years and he is also a Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
“Realnews, a general interest magazine, is an online publication that thrives on investigative journalism. We have expertise in reporting the oil and gas sector with its attendant environmental challenges. We aim to unearth exclusive stories about real people and the challenges they face in their day-to-day activities. We do this bearing in mind that government can only act to influence the lives of people positively if they are aware of their true situation. Hence, our objective is to use our investigative skills to ferret out information in the sectors we focus on and produce an unbiased report that will influence the government and decision-makers to take actions that will make society better.
“Realnews is populated by seasoned journalists who believe strongly in the tenets and ethics of the profession. The online publication believes that journalism as the fourth estate of the realm can contribute its quota towards building a fair and just society where fundamental human rights are respected and citizens have the freedom to pursue their interests anywhere in the world without hindrance. Its editors have a combined experience of several decades in active journalism practice and are highly dedicated to serving humanity. Hence its motto: “for god and humanity.”
“Realnews anniversary lecture series was established to commemorate the best minds in our society and to tap from them to enrich the discourse in our national development.
“The 11th anniversary lecture in 2023 on the threats of illicit funds flow to the African economy was delivered by Dr. Edwin w. Harris jr., Director-General, ECOWAS Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
The 10th anniversary lecture in 2022 on “Drug Abuse among Youths in Africa: Implication for Nigerian Economy and 2023 Elections” was delivered by Brig- General Buba Marwa, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA; 9th Anniversary Lecture of Realnews in 2021 was delivered by Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board on “Nigeria in the Unfolding Integration of the African Market: the oil and gas perspective”; 2020 Eighth Anniversary Lecture of Realnews was delivered by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 on Managing Covid-19 Pandemic in Africa: the Nigeria Experience; Former President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana gave the 2019 Lecture on Beyond Politics: an Economic Narrative for West Africa while Prof. Mahmood Yakubu spoke on Political transitions and Africa’s Economic Development: Preparations for Nigeria’s 2019 General Elections at the 2018 Lecture. The 2017 Fifth Anniversary Lecture on African Leadership in a Turbulent era was delivered by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education and former World Bank Vice President. The 2016 Fourth Anniversary Lecture on Security and National Development in Plural Democratic Society was delivered by Dr. Mohamed ibn Chambas, former United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative to West Africa and the Sahel; the 2015 Realnews Third Anniversary Lecture was delivered by Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on November 19, 2015, under the theme: It’s the Nigerian Economy Stupid? The Second Realnews Anniversary Lecture On Nigerian Democracy: Getting It Right In 2014 was delivered by Professor Maurice Iwu, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.”
Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court sitting in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a foreign national, to death by hanging, after convicting them on charges bordering on terrorism and arms proliferation.
The convicts, Yusuf Muhammad (alias Sallau), a Nigerien; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad, were apprehended on 13th June, 2025, by the Department of State Services (DSS) Counter Terrorism Unit in connection with cross-border criminal activities bordering on arms trafficking and terrorism.
Bello, who found all three defendants guilty as charged and sentenced them to death by hanging, while also ordering the forfeiture of all monetary exhibits recovered from the convicts to the Federal Government, said: “The conviction is the latest in a series of successful prosecutions by the DSS in its sustained operations against terrorism and organised cross-border criminal networks across Nigeria.”
The sentencing is coming about two weeks after the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sentenced each of the five suspects arrested on May 31, 2026, by the DSS for their involvement in the November 21, 2025, attack on St Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, to 25 years’ imprisonment.
Justice Binta Nyako, had handed down the judgment after the men, including two Nigeriens, pleaded guilty to all four terrorism-related charges, bordering on support for the commission of an act of terrorism, breaching both Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act, were pressed against them.
According to Count One, the men were accused of jointly conspiring to assist a terrorist by agreeing and intentionally playing various roles towards conveying 15 AK 103 rifles as well as about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa region, Republic of Niger, to one Malam Ahmad, a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu, Niger State, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Primate Elijah Ayodele, is on the verge of coughing out a whopping N10billion, if he fails to offer unrestrained apology to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State within the next 24 hours, and retract his claim that the former Minister of Defence is bidding his time to betray Peter Obi, to whom he is to contest the 2027 presidential election as a running mate.
Without doing so, the controversial cleric, should be ready for a major court battle with the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the platform on which the pair is to contest the election.
In a letter indicating a legal action against Ayodele of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church over defamatory remarks, Kwankwaso, through Magaji Mato Ibrahim, SAN & Co., his lawyers demanded an immediate retraction and apology from the cleric over the allegations.
Details of the letter, dated June 11, and unveiled through the X platform of the legal team, was based on a viral video recorded during a live-streamed church service, where the preacher made allegations targeting Kwankwaso’s integrity as Peter Obi’s running mate under the NDC.
Quoting the cleric as stating: “KWANKWASO IS A FAKE TO OBI, KWANKWASO WILL BETRAY YOU. KWANKWASO HAS BEEN PAID TO BE VICE PRESIDENT TO OBI AMONG OTHER LIBELOUS COMMENTS WHILE PRETENDING TO BE A PREACHER,” the former governor said the comments were unprovoked, grossly unfounded, and carefully designed to create a rift within the ranks of the political party and its supporters.
Handing Ayodele a 24-hour ultimatum to publish a full and unequivocal retraction across all social media platforms and news outlets with the same prominence as the original video, they also demanded a written undertaking that he would cease and desist from making any further malicious statements against their client, warning that failure to comply, would lead to full legal actions.
The letter stated: “We shall claim substantial damages to the tune of Ten Billion Naira and cost of the action on a full indemnity basis amongst other reliefs.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday demanded the immediate end to the exportation of minerals from countries in Africa in their raw forms, which he said had led to massive exploitation of the continent.
The President, told member countries of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), a forum of Ministers in charge of Mining and Solid Minerals on the continent to speak with one voice to promote, collective interests, ensure value addition, and prevent the continent from becoming merely a source of raw materials for the rest of the world.
As the Grand Patron of the group, chaired by Dele Alake, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, gave the charge while receiving a delegation of AMSG in the State House, Tinubu told the delegation that the group had a critical role to play in strengthening Africa’s bargaining power in the global mineral market and ensuring that the continent derives maximum value from its natural resources.
His words: “ What we should do is avoid bureaucracy and deceit; we must put an end to exploitation. The rest of the world won’t mind if your country is a cesspit of dams and rubbish and excavates your raw materials without giving value.
“It is our responsibility to collaborate and cooperate to ensure that these metals and minerals bring value to us, bring technology to us, and we can do it. It is how much each country will put into the research, development and refinery. I don’t see reasons we cannot demand centralisation of that conversation somewhere on the continent. So why not utilise that in our research and development and knowledge-based economy to enhance the quality of life and bring prosperity to our people.”
Emphasising that Africa possessed enormous mineral wealth that should be strategically harnessed to drive industrialisation, create jobs and accelerate economic transformation across the continent, the President, said the era of exporting raw minerals without local processing and beneficiation must give way to a new model that encourages investment in local industries, technology transfer and the development of value chains that retain wealth within Africa.
Alake, who had earlier expressed gratitude to the President for his exemplary leadership under the Renewed Hope Agenda, said the gesture had shown support for Nigeria’s mineral sector, especially in the local value-addition and economic diversification drive, where artisanal miners are empowered.
He told the President: “You encouraged us to look at the focal point of the establishment of this group, which is to ensure that the African natural resources, especially with regards to minerals, critical matters, are localised, the beneficiation coming directly to Africans generally.
“You charged us that we should set our sails very high and ensure that local value addition is a pivot around which all the objectives of this organisation should revolve.
“So, sir, we have gone implemented your charge and we are quitted that today local value addition is reverberating all over Africa.”
He added that some member countries have gone ahead to ban the export of raw minerals.
He explained members of the body were in Abuja for the Fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), to push for a new continental approach to resource management and industrial development.
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