President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the reinstatement of Mr Salihu Abdullahi Dembos as director-general, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

The directive was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

Onanuga explained that Dembos, who briefly vacated the position following management changes at the agency, was appointed by President Tinubu in October 2023 and will now return to complete his three-year tenure.

Also recalled is Mr Ayo Adewuyi, executive director of News, who was appointed in 2024. He is to serve out his tenure, which runs until 2027.

According to Onanuga, the directive nullifies the earlier appointments of a new director-general, executive director of news, executive director of marketing, and managing director of NTA Enterprises.

To amplify Afrobeats’ status as a global powerhouse, Spotify today announced the launch of its new Global Afrobeats Playlist. The new Global Afrobeats Playlist is a celebration of a sound that has moved from the club to the charts and beyond, influencing global fashion, dance, and culture. In direct response to the genre’s global growth, this playlist is driven by the passion and influence of listeners worldwide.

Beyond Africa, Afrobeats is seeing a massive increase in Asia, with Indonesia, India, the Philippines, and Thailand becoming major hotspots. In 2020, these markets experienced significant growth: Indonesia at a 4,530% increase, India at 1,650%, the Philippines at 1,492%, and Thailand at 1,370%. The genre’s popularity in the Latin America region has also seen a remarkable 183% year-on-year growth in 2025, underscoring its broad and international appeal.

Interestingly, Spotify data reveals a 135% growth in the number of user-generated playlists that use “Afrobeats” between 2020 and 2025. This is a movement of fans acting as tastemakers, building the genre’s global footprint one playlist at a time. Listeners are not just consuming the sound; they are curating, sharing, and exporting it worldwide.

This digital takeover is the work of a new generation. Gen Z, with an appetite for new sounds, has made playlists their go-to for discovery. They have turned playlists like Hot Hits Naija, African Heat, and Gbedu into global gateways. These playlists are the top three playlists for young Afrobeats listeners globally, reflecting the genre’s diverse energy, from club anthems to smooth crossovers. Hot Hits Naija alone has pulled in over 20 million global plays.

The top three playlists shaping Gen Z listening in the genre’s birthplace, Hot Hits Naija, Gbedu, and Street Energy capture the raw, street-driven pulse of Nigerian youth culture. The Afro Adura playlist, for instance, saw its average monthly plays jump by 51%, a clear sign that the genre’s appeal is both broad and deep.

“The launch of our Global Afrobeats Playlist isn’t about Spotify leading the charge, it’s about us following the fans,” says Benewaah Boateng, Spotify’s Senior Music Editor, Sub-Saharan Africa. “The data shows a wave of listener-driven curation, and this playlist is our way of celebrating that momentum. We are simply giving due recognition to the voices of a new generation who have made Afrobeats a global force, and we are thrilled to provide a definitive home for this vibrant and ever-evolving genre.”

The new Afrobeats Global playlist is a nod to the fans who built this movement from the ground up, and a green light for Afrobeats to keep climbing.

By Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, CFA

Across Nigeria, one of the biggest hurdles to broadband expansion has been the prohibitive cost of Right of Way charges: the fees telecom operators must pay to lay fibre-optic cables across state-owned land, which drastically slows down digital infrastructure rollout.

In 2022, one of the earliest and boldest steps taken by Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, was the removal of the Right of Way (RoW) charges for laying broadband fibre across Anambra State.

At the time, it may have seemed like a quiet policy move, but in reality, it laid the foundation for the state’s ongoing digital transformation journey.

The logic behind this move is simple but powerful. By waiving RoW charges, the administration sent a clear message to telecom operators, broadband providers, and investors: Anambra is open for digital business.

This single decision has paved the way for fibre-to-home deployment, the expansion of 5G infrastructure, and faster, more reliable internet across communities, ultimately boosting the ease of doing business.

Perhaps one of the most visible testaments to this visionary policy is the ongoing roll-out of the “Solution Free Wi-Fi” initiative, which is democratizing internet access for students, traders, civil servants, and everyday citizens, alongside the digitization of government processes that are making service delivery faster and more transparent.

Anambra is reaping the dividends of a forward-thinking approach.

What seemed impossible a few years ago is now a lived reality: Teachers are being equipped with digital tools, enhancing lesson delivery and preparing students for a technology-driven future.

Civil servants now work with smarter systems, making the civil service more efficient, transparent, and responsive to citizens, while young innovators are finding an enabling environment to create solutions and businesses that improve lives and shape the future.

What began as a policy shift has cascaded into practical, people-centred benefits that are redefining how Anambra learns, works, and governs.

This backbone is also unlocking new opportunities in telemedicine, e-learning, smart agriculture, and more. In short, the Soludo-led administration’s decision aligns perfectly with the governor’s vision of building a liveable and prosperous megacity, anchored on technology.

More notably, Anambra’s forward-thinking move aligns it with both national and global best practices. In Nigeria, states like Lagos, Ekiti and Kaduna that reduced or eliminated RoW fees saw significant surges in broadband penetration and digital services. Internationally, countries like Kenya and Rwanda demonstrate how lowering barriers for telecom operators fuels widespread connectivity, attracts investment, and spurs innovation.

Anambra’s decision places it firmly within this league of forward-looking regions, positioning the state as not just a beneficiary of technology but a driver of digital growth in Nigeria.

This is not just about cables in the ground, it’s about creating an ecosystem where technology thrives and opportunities multiply.

Anambra is proving that the future truly belongs to states that embrace technology not as a slogan, but as a strategy.

The state’s journey toward becoming a digital hub in Nigeria is still unfolding, but the foundation has been laid, strong and unshakable, by a single, daring choice.