A coalition of Niger Delta youth leaders on Wednesday blocked the entrance of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Towers in Abuja, demanding the resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, over alleged corruption and mismanagement.

The protesters also insisted that the next head of the oil company should come from the Niger Delta region.

Arriving at the facility as early as 6 a.m., the youths mounted barricades at the entry and exit points of the NNPCL headquarters, chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards. Music blared from loudspeakers mounted on a truck parked near the building, creating heavy disruption in the area.

The protest caused gridlock along Herbert Macaulay Way in the Central Business District, forcing commuters and workers to seek alternative routes. Security personnel, including police officers, were deployed to the scene to prevent a breakdown of law and order. They diverted traffic to a single lane and appealed to the protesters to remain peaceful.

Following intervention from a representative of the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the demonstrators later left the highway and moved towards the exit gate of the towers, allowing traffic to flow more freely.

Despite the disruption, the demonstration remained peaceful.

The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to 56 months in prison in the United States for his role in a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fund fraud.

Oloyede, 62, who holds both Nigerian and U.S. citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was convicted on August 26 by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko. Alongside the jail term, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay restitution of $4,408,543.38, and forfeit assets, including his Medina home and nearly $100,000 seized during the investigation.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Oloyede spearheaded a conspiracy with Edward Oluwasanmi to exploit federal loan programmes designed to support struggling businesses during the pandemic.

Between April 2020 and February 2022, the duo submitted numerous fraudulent applications under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA). In April this year, both men pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud.

Court filings revealed that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, used multiple business entities—including five companies and a nonprofit—to secure fraudulent loans worth about $1.7 million. His partner, Oluwasanmi, used three business entities to obtain approximately $1.2 million.

The fraud extended beyond their own companies. Prosecutors said Oloyede also submitted fake applications on behalf of some of his tax clients, collecting between 15 and 20 percent of the loans as kickbacks, which he failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service.

Investigators found that the monarch spent some of the illicit funds on land acquisition, building a residence, and purchasing a luxury vehicle. In total, Oloyede was linked to 38 fraudulent loan applications amounting to over $4.2 million.

Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property bought with fraud proceeds, and relinquish over $600,000 held in bank accounts.

The case was jointly investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations, under the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.

Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford for the Northern District of Ohio.

A former Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, Doyin Odebowale, has faulted the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, over his recent call for the Ooni of Ife to withdraw a chieftaincy title awarded to an Ibadan businessman.

In an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Odebowale argued that monarchs exercise power only within their local government areas and cannot claim superiority over elected officials.

“With respect to most of these rulers now, there is a misapprehension of roles. They want to be addressed as Kabiyesi, but they are not.

“They are under the local government chairman in their respective localities. So this idea of somebody sitting in Oyo and legislating on what happens in Ile-Ife is a misnomer,” he said.

Odebowale added that the Alaafin must have been misinformed about an alleged conflict of authority between his throne and that of the Ooni of Ife.

“I want to believe that the Alaafin of Oyo must have been misled into believing that there is an extant issue to be resolved between that office and that of the Ooni. I don’t see any justification for this distraction,” he noted.

The former aide blamed recurring disputes among monarchs on what he described as “permissive decadence” in the traditional institution.

“It is a very pathetic situation in the sense that most of those who parade themselves as traditional rulers do not even know their function. It appears to me that they are in a hurry to discard tradition.

“They are so happy when they are addressed as Oba, assistant pastor, or Alhaji; that is total abnegation of traditional values,” he lamented.

He explained that the erosion of monarchs’ powers can be traced back to colonial rule, when the British reduced empires to stools and enacted chieftaincy laws restricting their influence.

According to him, rulers who accepted colonial titles and knighthoods forfeited their claim to supremacy.

“By government structure, their powers do not go beyond their local government, if you want to, by their letter. The Ooni of Ife is in Osun state, and they have their traditional council. The Alafin of Oyo is in Oyo state, and they have a traditional council.

“By the Oyo State chieftaincy law, only four Obas are recognised as imperial majesties. The Alaafin cannot act beyond his local government. By law, he is under his local government chairman,” Odebowale said.

President Bola Tinubu has approved a six-month suspension on the export of raw shea nuts, a move aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s position in the global shea industry. The directive, announced by Vice President Kashim Shettima at a multi-stakeholder meeting in Abuja, takes immediate effect and will be subject to review after expiration.

According to the Federal Government, the ban is not a restriction on trade but a “pro–value addition policy” designed to protect local processors, curb informal cross-border trade, and ensure that Nigeria moves up the value chain in the global shea economy.

Why This Temporary Ban on Shea Nut

The government’s decision stems from concerns that Nigeria, despite producing nearly 40 percent of the world’s shea nuts, accounts for less than one percent of the $6.5 billion global shea market.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, explained that an estimated 90,000 metric tonnes of raw shea are lost annually to informal cross-border trade, undermining the nation’s processors, who are operating at only 35–50 percent capacity despite a national installed capacity of 160,000 metric tonnes.

According to Kyari, “Without corrective action, Nigeria risked becoming a raw depot for opportunistic and illicit buyers, disempowering rural women and forfeiting billions in potential export revenues.” He noted that neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Togo have already placed restrictions on raw shea exports to protect their local industries, leaving Nigeria vulnerable as the last open market.

The Vice President further framed the ban as a tool for economic empowerment and industrialisation. “This decision will transform Nigeria from an exporter of raw shea nut to a global supplier of refined shea butter, oil and other derivatives,” Shettima said. “It is about rural transformation, gender empowerment, and expanding Nigeria’s global trade footprint.”

What This Means for the Nigerian Economy* 

The government projects that the shea sector could generate at least $300 million annually in the short term and potentially position Nigeria to capture a significant share of the global market, projected to reach $9 billion by 2030.

Beyond revenue, the policy has social implications. With 90% of shea pickers and processors being women, the ban is expected to directly improve rural livelihoods and empower millions of women involved in the value chain. “By protecting the shea industry, we are protecting livelihoods, dignity and opportunity for millions of our women,” Shettima said.

The move also aligns with Nigeria’s Zero Oil Plan, which prioritises commodities with high global demand as alternatives to crude oil revenue. By scaling up domestic processing, the country hopes to build competitiveness against regional players like Ghana and Burkina Faso, who have already secured stronger positions in the international shea market.

If effectively implemented, the ban could mark a turning point for Nigeria’s non-oil export strategy, transforming the shea sector from an overlooked raw commodity into a global driver of industrialisation and inclusive growth.