Setofunmi Alo

May it be sweet, may it be plenty, may it last.

Starting very soon, I want to organise a series of X Spaces focusing on subnational analyses of ‘2027’. Goal is simple: highlight and analyse political landscape and context in each State: interplay of voting trends / patterns, zoning, history, geography and demography. If you’re interested in providing context and insight about your State, drop a comment below - indicating the State. Partisan and non-partisan perspectives welcome. As long as they’re knowledgeable and insightful.

Maelezo kamili ya mwekezaji na tajiri wa Afrika Alhaji Aliko Dangote kuhusu uwekezaji wake Tanzania muda mfupi baada ya kukutana na kuzungumza na Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, Mheshimiwa Dkt. Samia Suluhu Hassan, Ikulu Jijini Dar es Salaam leo tarehe 16 Mei, 2026. Dondoo, Alhaji Dangote anasema; 1. Tanzania ni nchi yenye mazingira bora na ya uhakika kwa uwekezaji ikichagizwa na nguvukazi kubwa ya vijana. 2. Rais Dkt. Samia Suluhu Hassan ni kiongozi shupavu na mwenye dhamira ya dhati ya kutekeleza mipango iliyowekwa katika kukuza uwekezaji. 3. Kampuni yake ya Dangote inaridhishwa na imepata mafanikio makubwa katika uwekezaji wake wa kiwanda cha saruji Mkoani Mtwara na hivyo; i) Itapanua kiwanda hicho kwa kuongeza uwekezaji na usambazaji ukiwemo kununua malori mapya 600 ya kusafirishia saruji ii) Inafanyia kazi uwekezaji katika kiwanda cha kuchakata mafuta ghafi (refinery) hapa nchini. iii) Itajenga kiwanda cha mbolea ili kusaidia upatikanaji wa bidhaa hiyo. iv) Inakusudia kuwekeza katika bandari ya Bagamoyo Na ametoa wito kwa vijana kuchangamkia fursa na kuanza safari ya kuwa matajiri wakubwa kama alivyoanza yeye kwa mtaji mdogo lori nne za saruji na sasa anamiliki kampuni kubwa ambayo ni miongoni mwa kampuni kubwa 120 Duniani, na kwamba kampuni zake zinazalisha ajira kwa maelfu ya watu. Mwambie jirani ya HAHAA HABARI NDO HIYO. #KaziIendelee

Last night's operation targeted a significant presence of ISIS fighters in Northeastern Nigeria eliminating multiple high value individuals including Abu-Bilal al-Minuki.

Ademola Adeleke >>>

A confrontation between EFCC @officialEFCC operatives and Professor Eyo Ekpe of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital has triggered an indefinite doctors’ strike across Akwa Ibom State. But what exactly happened?

“When we stop talking, we are likely to start fighting.” - Gen. Yakubu Gowon

Le président de la CAF, Dr Patrice Motsepe, et le chef de l’État nigérian, Son Excellence Bola Tinubu, se sont rencontrés aujourd’hui en marge du Africa Forward Summit à Nairobi. Ils ont discuté de plusieurs sujets, notamment de la coopération entre le gouvernement, le football et le secteur privé au Nigeria et en Afrique.

At this point, let’s scratch UTME. This is really shameful.

A fantastic communicator, Mrs Adeosun. Impressive understanding of the power of storytelling and numbers. As Minister a decade ago she took comms very seriously and did a great job at it. A short story. I remember early 2017, I pitched the idea of a Facebook Live to her. She wasted no time accepting to do it - at a time when Ministers didn’t really do stuff like this. If I recall correctly this was going to be our first FB Live at the Presidency Office of Digital Engagement (PODE), as we were then known. On the appointed day, April 4, 2017, my team and I packed ourselves and went to the Minister’s Office. I was quite nervous - will the internet not mess us up, etc. I recall her asking, when we stepped into her office, where our cameras were, and I said No cameras M’am, we’re going to use our mobile phones. Heart beating gbim-gbim-gbim, I started the Live, wholly at the mercy of 2017 Abuja internet. Our interviewee was fantastic, a natural. She spoke (very passionately and knowledgeably as usual), answered the questions. Her excitement about it was really energizing. After the session, she asked us to play it back, and she patiently watched, impressed by the ‘disintermediation’ she’d just been part of, a senior government official speaking directly to the public and taking questions, outside of traditional media and with no elaborate set up. Remember this was 2017, long before Covid democratized the idea of virtual access by government officials. It’s a chapter in my comms journey I will never forget. PS. I have more comms stories about Mrs Adeosun, but if I share everything here, what will I put inside my book?

Except that you are at war with your ex-boss where all is fair, this story should never be out here through you. As a PA, current or former, confidentiality is not a policy to reference, it is a standard to uphold.

NAF HERCULES C-130: THE STRATEGIC WORKHORSE POWERING OPERATIONS AND SAVING LIVES For decades, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Hercules C-130 has remained a formidable symbol of strength and resilience, serving as one of the most critical operational assets of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Renowned globally for its versatility and reliability, the aircraft has consistently delivered rapid airlift capabilities across diverse and challenging environments. From transporting troops and military hardware to sustaining frontline operations, as well as conducting humanitarian missions, aeromedical evacuations, delivering relief materials, and saving lives, the C-130 has played a central role in enhancing military operations while supporting the civil populace across the country. Its ability to operate from austere and semi-prepared airstrips has made it indispensable in counter-insurgency campaigns and support missions across various theatres of operation. The aircraft equally proved its strategic value while supporting Nigerian contingents deployed in Liberia and Sierra Leone, reinforcing Nigeria’s military reach and contribution to regional stability through sustained strategic airlift operations. Beyond combat operations, the C-130 has remained a vital humanitarian and national response platform. The aircraft has airlifted hundreds of thousands of kilograms of relief materials to disaster-stricken communities, supported flood relief operations, evacuated displaced persons from inaccessible locations, and conducted life-saving aeromedical evacuation missions for wounded personnel and critically ill patients. During national emergencies and public health crises, it has consistently remained at the forefront of rapid response efforts, transporting medical teams, equipment, and essential supplies across the country. Through its enduring operational impact and humanitarian contributions, the Hercules C-130 continues to embody the Nigerian Air Force’s unwavering commitment to national defence, humanitarian service, and the protection of the Nigerian people. #NigerianAirForce #AirPowerForNigeria #NAFStrong #StrategicAirlift #C130Hercules

See the animals this hunter caught ooo😮..We really do have animals like this in this country?

This week, Nigeria’s National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu (@NuhuRibadu), met with Vice President J.D. Vance (@JDVance) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (@SecRubio), reinforcing a decisive U.S.-Nigeria partnership to confront terrorism in West Africa. .@officialABAT is grateful for @realDonaldTrump’s partnership and continued U.S. training and intelligence support as Nigerian forces intensify operations to dismantle terrorist networks, protect Nigerian Christians, and defend all vulnerable communities. Africa’s largest democracy isn’t wavering. Nigeria stands as a frontline U.S. partner against ISIS, Boko Haram, and rising terror threats across the Sahel. This fight is winnable, and together, the U.S. and Nigeria intend to finish it. 🇺🇲 🇳🇬

She schooled him on Yoruba culture ❤️

I paid a working visit to the Director General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency @nimetnigeria, Prof. Charles Anosike, to strengthen collaboration on climate information sharing for timely preparedness to mitigate disaster risks asssociated with the approaching rainy season. The importance of the engagement cannot be overstated as timely and reliable climate data remains critical to our sustained efforts to promote anticipatory action and strengthen community resilience nationwide. We will continue to engage sister bodies and other relevant stakeholders through a coordinated early warning framework to strengthen proactive disaster management, and protect lives, property and public infrastructure.

Reading President OBJ’s inauguration speech in 1999, Nigeria’s unofficial estimated population seems to have doubled over the last 27 years from 120 million to 240 million. If this growth rate persists, we may even exceed the 400 million population by 2050 projection.

Security starts in the classroom. Today, I held a high level meeting with the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, alongside former IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, as we continue advancing plans to expand the Nigeria Police Academy and strengthen police training nationwide. This is in line with the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to reposition the Nigerian Police through education, building a system that delivers on its core mandate and strengthens national security. We have now concluded plans to commence academic activities at the new southern campus of the Police Academy in Abeokuta, Ogun State, with a clear timeline to admit the first set of students between September and November 2026. Beyond the academy, we are also driving reforms across over 40 police colleges, with a strong focus on upgrading capacity, accelerating accreditation, and transitioning select institutions into specialised, industry relevant training centres. We have set up dedicated committees to fast track resource verification, infrastructure development, and curriculum alignment, ensuring this campus and the broader reforms are delivered with speed, structure, and sustainability. Policing today demands more than theory. It requires technical expertise, adaptability, and continuous skills development, and that is exactly what we are building. This is a one government approach. And we are not just talking about reform, we are delivering it.

I have followed with rapt attention the discourse that followed my conversation at the Platform Nigeria on May Day. The stark reality is this - opportunities are few and far between, unemployment/underemployment is high and sadly there are too few employers for a huge market such as ours, at least when compared to other markets such as China, India that have similar youth bulge. We Nigerians are some of the most hardworking and gritty people in the world. But we must tell ourselves the truth. Nigeria currently doesn’t have enough highly skilled technical talent resident in Nigeria to build companies that can scale globally. Interestingly, I have also read a lot of employers double down and agree with my current diagnosis around our country’s technical talent pipeline gap and confirmed it is true. Former Minister, Kemi Adeosun also referenced Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote comments around finding the right quality and quantity of talents for his refinery project. Let me ask a hard question - can we say that Nigeria has enough highly skilled technical talent still resident in Nigeria? That's a huge conundrum that any organization that wants to maintain market leadership must solve for. How many engineering executives do we have remaining in Nigeria that lead a payments team that handles payments infrastructure processing tens millions of transactions daily without fail? How many senior data scientists do we have in Nigeria that can create data models to appraise millions of customers while managing prudent NPLs? How many senior growth executives in Nigeria have the experience of growing a digital apps towards acquiring 80k customers a day through digital and offline channels while maintaining prudent CACs? It is important to note that this is not about Nigerians generally, this is about senior Nigerian talents still resident in Nigeria. Nigeria is not producing enough high quality senior technical talent and the little we have are emigrating. I can explain these to be that Nigeria does not have too many feeder industries across the board. As such, there are fewer starter companies that young talent can come from to feed into senior roles in other companies. Every one then ends up fighting for the same pool of senior leaders that have experience and bandwidth to deliver and win in the market. The effect of the Japa wave has been very well chronicled and I must add that this has been a trans-generational challenge. Remember that time in the early 80s where a lot of our medical professionals left for places like Saudi and the UAE? As at March 2024, Nigeria had lost around 16,000 medical doctors to other countries, most especially the US and the UK. The quality of technical education is also falling as our standard of education is lagging behind global counterparts. Can we say we have enough senior technical talent in Nigeria to compete with global competition especially China? But Moniepoint, Dangote, Flutterwave, LemFi are competing with them. Training young talents can fill the gap for the future but is inadequate for today. Companies need senior talent and cannot wait the eight to ten years needed to get them to senior levels to compete. In training young talent, Moniepoint has seen a lot of bright spots through our various interventions that are aimed at deepening the talent pool. So we are indeed doing something about improving talent density for the ecosystem. Through our DreamDevs programme, which is in its second year, we're training talented young engineering graduates with the skills they need to enter the workforce as top talent. We have supported the government's 3MTT agenda as well as a partnership with Unilag’s NITHUB to push the HatchDev initiative. Our Women in Tech internship programme, which now in its sixth year, provides women with the access, training and opportunities they need to build careers in tech. I also personally have a scholarship program for STEM students across select Nigerian universities in every geo-political zone. Competing globally also means that you spend top dollars to retain top Nigerian talents that you have nurtured. We routinely retain Nigerians that emigrate and pay them according to their local market standards. A recent example is an exceptional first class graduate we nurtured through our women in Tech program and had to go to school just as a path to emigrate and we had to retain abroad and offer an alternative naturalization path for her. Moniepoint has over 3,500 full time employees with over 90% Nigerian talents, and we’re growing 20% YoY. We’d love a world where this is at 99% while building for the world. Self deception isn’t a virtue and we must tell ourselves the home truth - we need to raise the quantity and quality of our technical talents resident in Nigeria to compete. No organization can rise above the quality of its output and execution is everything in this game. Nigeria will be great. Let’s all do the work together. By the way, top tech talents still resident in Nigeria, we need you badly. We pay above market rates and you will make real impact. Please apply here: moniepoint.com/careers For top Nigerian talents out of the country, we hire out of the UK, Portugal, Spain, India and Pakistan. Also apply, we are building digital banking infrastructure that provides financial happiness for emerging markets.

PRP we know, NDC we know; which one is APM?

Happy birthday, Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, @HMMohammedIdris. At the outset, you committed to restoring public trust in public communications, and not a single day have you wavered in the last 32 months. 60 hearty cheers, Kakaaki Nupe!