General News
Ondo Govt Urged to Equip Citizens with Digital Skill, Infrastructure
Ondo State Government has been enjoined to equip its people with digital skills and provide them with digital infrastructure to enable them establish innovation driven enterprises in the state and also participate in global digital economy.
The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa gave this admonition when he delivered a keynote address titled “Tech-Forward Ondo” at the Develop Ondo 2.1, a virtual summit organised by the state’s Ministry of Regional Integration and Diaspora Relations.
Inuwa, who was represented by the Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy Department, Dr. Aristotle Onumo advised the state to prepare its people for tomorrow’s jobs. “To compete in the digital economy, the state government needs to prioritise education and build the digital skills of its workforce by creating efficient safety nets to support those transactions,” he said.
While acknowledging that Ondo State is blessed with abundant material resource especially human capital, both at home and in the diaspora, he said digital transformation can only become impactful in the state if the people are prepared and ready to participate in the global digital economy.
According to him, the continuous evolvement of technology in the state’s processes would make the state government adopt new technologies and leverage them to their advantage.
He added that, “For state government to effectively deliver on its promises of efficient services to the people, there is a need to be prepared to constantly adapt to the impact of technology in their operations.”
He said, “You have to create the enabling environment for increased efficiency and innovation to empower the public and private sectors to function effectively and collaboratively for the delivery of transparent, efficient, and cost-saving services to the people.
“This will not be functional without the availability of critical public digital infrastructure to facilitate digital innovation.”
While listing the myriad of opportunities the state can tap into Inuwa advised the state to replicate “Yaba” in Akure a the technological hub for the state, deliberate on Public Private Partnership for digital talent development programme for talent export in some identifiable areas, adopt the National Digital Literacy Framework for the state’s education curriculum, organise innovation challenge among startups to solve local problem, engage the diasporas to mentor startup and build digital infrastructures in the state.
He however urged the state to consider partnering with NITDA to drive digital innovation and entrepreneurship to increase the number of innovation-driven enterprises and expand Nigeria’s pool of talented innovators.
He said, “Ondo State provides a friendly base for nurturing these talented innovators whose ingenuity can be exported to impact the global digital economy and create wealth and job opportunities within the domestic economy.
“Through one of our subsidiaries, the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), NITDA will continue to execute programmes and initiatives geared to expand the tech innovation ecosystem across States of the federation.”
The Director General commended the state and the organiser of the programme for the initiative which he described as “momentous event to deliberate on ways to harness the abundant opportunities that digitilisation and technological innovation offer.”
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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