Agege LG Launches 5-Day Solar Electrification Training & Youth Empowerment Programme

In a groundbreaking step toward youth development and renewable energy advancement, Agege Local Government, in partnership with World Class Prime Services Ltd, has unveiled a 5-Day Solar Electrification Training and Youth Empowerment Programme designed specifically for young adults within the community.

Targeted at residents aged 18 to 40, the programme aims to equip participants with practical and industry-relevant skills in solar installation, electrification systems, maintenance, and renewable energy entrepreneurship. This initiative comes at a time when Nigeria’s demand for alternative energy sources is on a steady rise.

Applicants are required to complete the online registration form and also appear physically for screening with their NIN and LASRRA identification.

You can register here – https://forms.gle/7ogABnoZHkZ7EB1dA

Screening Details

Date: Monday, 24 November 2025

Venue: Agege Local Government Multipurpose Hall

Time: 9:00AM

The training will run for five intensive days, focusing on hands-on technical sessions aimed at empowering participants with skills that can translate into job opportunities or self-employment within the renewable energy space.

The initiative has been widely applauded as the first of its kind in Lagos State, especially at the grassroots government level. Community members, youth leaders, and stakeholders have praised the visionary leadership of the Executive Chairman of Agege Local Government, Hon. Abdulganiyu Vinod Obasa, for championing such a forward-thinking empowerment programme.

Since assuming office, Hon. Obasa has continued to demonstrate a strong commitment to innovation, youth development, and sustainable community growth. This solar training programme further reinforces his resolve to create opportunities that enhance skills, reduce unemployment, and position Agege as a model for progressive governance within Lagos State.

With this new initiative, Agege LG sets a remarkable precedent for other councils across the state, proving that effective leadership can drive transformative community impact.

Gospel Artist Testimony Jaga Seeks Justice as LASBCA Demolitions Leave AIT Road Residents Homeless, Injured

LAGOS, Nigeria — Gospel artist Testimony Jaga has appealed to the Lagos State Government to urgently intervene in what he describes as a “humanitarian disaster” following the demolition of homes and shops along AIT Road, Kola, and the Powerline axis by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

According to the singer, the government’s operation carried out under the justification that the structures fell within high-tension powerline extensions has plunged countless families into sorrow, homelessness, and in some cases, physical harm. Jaga said many victims are elderly people and widows who have nowhere else to go.

He alleged that despite the government’s earlier claim that the cleared land would be used for the construction of a BRT garage and a Mechanic Village, the same land is now reportedly being allocated to individuals while construction of a mall and rows of shops has begun.
He expressed concern that the government’s shifting plans are raising suspicion among affected residents who originally believed the demolitions were for public infrastructure.

The gospel artist further revealed that landlords in the community allegedly contributed a total of ₦25 million, which they reportedly paid through community channels to the Ministry of Environment, hoping their buildings and businesses would be spared. Instead, he said, the demolitions still went ahead, leaving many feeling cheated and abandoned.

The demolitions, which lasted for days, shattered the lives of hundreds. Many now sleep outside, exposed to rain, mosquitoes, hunger, and the cold Lagos night.

One of the victims, Mrs. Adebimpe Oduro, a widow, said her only source of livelihood was wiped out in minutes. She recounted watching helplessly as her shop, where she sold goods to sustain her children, was bulldozed. She said some of her merchandise was destroyed before she could salvage anything, adding that she now has no income and no shelter.

Another woman, Mrs. Esther Oalogun, fought back tears as she described the demolition as “the beginning of a slow death.” She said she has been struggling to find food since losing her business.

Mrs. Shola Ikotun and Mrs. Bisoye Lawal also narrated their ordeal, explaining how the loss of their shops has devastated their livelihoods. They said they now spend long hours in the open beside the demolished site, unsure of how to start again and relying on neighbours for food while they struggle to rebuild their businesses. Lawal said she feels like “a stranger in the community I once belonged to,” describing the emotional impact of watching the shop she managed for decades reduced to rubble.

Perhaps the most harrowing account came from 64-year-old Mrs. Olabisi Osho, a resident of No. 44 Powerline Phase 2 on AIT Road. She said the house she had lived in for over 28 years, one she built with her late husband, was torn down early one morning without warning.

During the chaos, she suffered a head injury and passed out. According to her, LASBCA officials continued the demolition even while she lay unconscious. Now injured, widowed, and homeless, she sleeps on bare ground beside the remnants of her former home. “My husband died four years ago. This house was all I had left of him,” she said, weeping.

Another widow, 63-year-old Mrs. Elizabeth Mercy Oni, said she has now become a two-time victim of Lagos demolitions. She explained that her daughter, who cared for her, also lost her shop, leaving both of them homeless. They now sleep in an open space covered only with a tarpaulin. “I don’t know how to start again at my age,” she said.

Mrs. Aina Adejare, aged 66, said she had lived in her marital home for more than 30 years before it was bulldozed last week. She lost her husband ten years ago and said the house was her only security. “I sleep on the bare ground now. I have no money, nowhere to go, and nobody to help,” she said.

Testimony Jaga urged the government to return to the original development plan of a BRT depot and a Mechanic Village, arguing that these projects would create jobs and improve the economy of the community rather than displacing vulnerable people.

He also appealed for immediate compensation for the victims, especially the widows and elderly residents who are currently sleeping in the open with no access to food, water, or basic shelter.

“This situation is bigger than politics,” he said. “It is about real human lives, real suffering, and real families who have been pushed into despair. These people deserve justice and immediate relief.”

NIGERIA: A NATION OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by Saharaweeklyng.com

“How Insecurity, Economic Misrule, and Institutional Decay Are Dragging Africa’s Largest Democracy to the Brink.”

Nigeria is no longer a nation at a CROSSROADS; it is a nation at a CLIFF’S EDGE, dragged dangerously close to collapse by insecurity, corruption, economic mismanagement and institutional failure. To describe Nigeria as “A COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” is not an exaggeration. It is an urgent diagnosis grounded in data, daily experiences and the wailing voices of communities mourning their dead, burying their children and losing faith in a government that has repeatedly failed to secure life, dignity, and hope.

Today, more than 46% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, inflation continues to ravage every home and millions of young people are out of school, unemployed, or fleeing the country in desperation. The economy is battered, insecurity is rampant and governance is largely rudderless. But nothing captures Nigeria’s descent into chaos more painfully than the horrifying attacks on schools, a brutal reminder that even children, the most innocent among us, are not safe.

THE KEBBI SCHOOL ABDUCTION: A NATIONAL WOUND THAT REFUSES TO HEAL. On November 17, 2025, Nigeria was jolted again by a chilling act of terror. Armed men stormed the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State, abducting at least 25 schoolgirls in a coordinated predawn attack. The attackers scaled the school fence at about 4:00 a.m., opened fire indiscriminately, and dragged the girls into the forest.

In an act of courage and sacrifice, the school’s vice-principal, Hassan Yakubu Makuku, tried to shield the students. He was shot dead on the spot, executed for standing between young girls and the barrels of bandits’ guns. A security guard, Ali Shehu, was also shot and wounded while attempting to resist the attackers. This was not an isolated attack, it was a continuation of a horrifying pattern. The attacks in Chibok (2014), Dapchi (2018), Kagara (2021), Tegina (2021), Kuriga (2024), and now Kebbi all form a bloody chain of state failure. The haunting question remains: How many Nigerian children must be abducted before the government takes decisive action?

President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack as “REPREHENSIBLE,” ordering security agencies to rescue the girls. Though Nigerians have heard these promises before, promises that too often end in mass graves, unmarked graves, or traumatized survivors returning from months of captivity.

INSECURITY: NIGERIA IS BLEEDING FROM EVERY CORNER. Nigeria is now a battlefield.
Bandits control forests.
Terrorists dominate territories.
Kidnappers roam highways.
Cultists terrorize communities.
Unknown gunmen spill blood freely.
And criminals now view schools as marketplaces where children can be BOUGHT, SOLD and TRADED.

Between 2011 and 2024, more than 22,000 Nigerians were abducted, according to SBM Intelligence. Schoolchildren account for thousands. Today, the fear of abduction has become a cloud over education in the North-West and North-East. Parents are withdrawing their daughters from school. Teachers are resigning. Students attend classes under the shadow of death.

The African Centre for Strategic Studies warns: “Insecurity in Nigeria is no longer episodic; it is SYSTEMIC, SUSTAINED and INCREASINGLY NORMALIZED.”

AN ECONOMY IN FREE FALL. As insecurity expands, the economy collapses further.

• Food inflation soared above 30%, turning basic staples like rice, garri, and beans into luxuries.
• Fuel subsidy removal in 2023 unleashed nationwide hardship without adequate safety nets.
• The naira’s devaluation pushed millions into despair, weakening purchasing power.
• Power shortages cripple manufacturing and small businesses.
• Youth unemployment remains among the highest in the world.

The World Bank notes sharply: “Nigeria’s economic crisis is affecting the foundations of social stability.”

Businesses are shutting down. Investors are fleeing. The middle class (once the hope of national growth) is thinning daily. Nigeria is becoming a land of the extremely rich and the extremely poor.

THE ROT IN GOVERNANCE: CORRUPTION AND A CULTURE OF IMPUNITY. Nigeria’s governance crisis is not accidental, but engineered by decades of CORRUPTION, INCOMPETENCE and POLITICAL ARROGANCE.

Transparency International continues to rank Nigeria near the bottom of the global corruption index. Funds meant for security are siphoned. Allocations for education vanish. Social welfare programs become political compensation schemes. In many states, salaries and pensions are delayed while leaders parade luxury convoys and foreign trips.

As Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka once warned: “The greatest threat to Nigeria is not corruption itself, but the culture of impunity that protects it.” This impunity has now metastasized into a national cancer.

A BROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT. The social contract between Nigerian citizens and their government rests on a simple principle: The people obey the law and the state protects life and welfare. That contract has been shredded.

When schoolchildren are kidnapped, when teachers are murdered, when farmers are slaughtered, when the state cannot secure food, jobs or electricity, then governance loses its moral legitimacy.

As renowned political economist Amartya Sen argues: “Development must begin with freedom; freedom from fear, hunger and insecurity.” Nigeria today offers none of these.

WHAT MUST BE DONE AND URGENTLY. If Nigeria is to avoid total collapse, five urgent actions are non-negotiable:

1. Secure the Nation — Not with Speeches, But with Strategy.
Nigeria needs technology-driven intelligence, forest surveillance, community policing and decisive operations that dismantle bandit networks permanently.

2. Protect Schools with a Real Safe Schools Initiative.
Deploy armed marshals, install perimeter security and establish rapid-response teams in high-risk regions.

3. Rebuild the Economy from the Bottom Up
Job creation, agricultural revival, MSME funding and power sector fixes must take precedence over cosmetic reforms.

4. Fight Corruption with Institutional Teeth
Special anti-corruption courts, open contracting and digitized government payments are essential.

5. Put Citizens First
Social protection must be transparent, targeted and shielded from political interference.

A CRITICAL SUMMATION: THE HOUR OF TRUTH FOR NIGERIA. Nigeria stands at a historic turning point. The abduction of 25 schoolgirls in Kebbi, the killing of their vice-principal and the rising waves of insecurity, poverty and corruption are not isolated problems; they are symptoms of a nation clinically ill and dangerously untreated. The world is watching. Nigerians are waiting. History is recording. If Nigeria fails to act decisively now, the consequences will echo for generations.

As long as we still breathe, hope is not dead.

In the words of my own reflection: “We must refuse to normalize decline. Nigeria must rise; not by chance, but by courage, sacrifice and the unyielding demand for a nation worthy of its people.” — George Omagbemi Sylvester