Abu Umar 

Nigeria has called on African countries to build a stronger, better-funded and self-reliant continental security system to confront the growing threat of terrorism and other emerging security challenges.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, made the appeal in Abuja, while addressing the Consultative Forum on Strengthening the Functional Performance of the African Union Peace and Security Architecture.

She said Africa must assume greater responsibility for safeguarding its peace and stability, particularly amid rising regional security threats, weaknesses in existing continental mechanisms and growing pressure on multilateral cooperation.

The minister raised the alarm over the spread of terrorism across Africa, noting that armed groups were adopting new technologies to advance their operations while relying on proceeds from transnational organised crime and illicit financial flows to fund their activities.

To address the threats, Odumegwu-Ojukwu urged African states to strengthen the Continental Early Warning System, expand African-led mediation efforts and reinforce the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). She also called for improved intelligence-sharing, stronger national peace structures and urgent action on local grievances and youth unemployment to build more resilient communities.

The Minister stressed the need for increased support for rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, and encouraged African countries to leverage on AU Counter-Terrorism Centre (AUTC) for the coordination of continental counter-terrorism efforts.

While speaking on the importance of complementarity between AU Peace Fund and international funding commitments, including those of the United Nations (UN), the Minister emphasized the need to institutionalise predictable financing for AU-led operations. 

She called for enhanced peace support operations through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2719 as well as the full operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF) and

Regional Standby Forces.

Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu expressed optimism that the two-

day Forum would engender practical and implementable recommendations required to strengthen Africa’s collective capacity to prevent conflicts, respond to emerging threats and promote sustainable peace and security.

The Consultative Forum is focused on four priorities: mediation and preventive diplomacy; early warning and response; counter-terrorism; and peace support operations. Nigeria expects it to produce practical recommendations that would improve security coordination on the African continent, enhance financing for peace and strengthen the capacity of African institutions to effectively

respond to Africa’s security challenges.

… unveils pension week with essay competition, MSME Fair, others

By Sam Otuonye 

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said it recovered N36.6 billion from defaulting employers as at June 2026, breaking every record in the history of the scheme, noting that this year (2026) it has surpassed of last year.

The disclosure was made by the Director- General (DG) of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran, in her keynote speech at the 2026 Annual Media Conference on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, in Abuja.

The DG stated that the Commission has made several progress within two years of her administration with the evolution of PenCare, the free healthcare window for low income retirees on as low as N30,000, the blossoming infrastructure investment, minimum pension guarantee, clearance of backlog of arrears, and exit package that started January 2026.

Oloworaran noted that the bottleneck of delayed pension payment and remittance of pension contribution by employers have drastically reduced as monitoring and enforcement have improved and more states and institutions being enrolled. She said two more states have been onboarded.

The DG revealed the unveiling of 2026 National Pension Week to run from October 26 to 30, with the theme: Pension For All: Building a Secure Future, highlighting the bouquet of events to include; youth engagement day, for secondary, tertiary and youth corps members, with essay competition and handsome rewards for winners.

On day two, she said it is for National MSMEs Fair, to showcase trades and crafts, by entreprenueurs, business owners who would be given free booths for exhibition.

Day three and four would be for Senior Citizens Day and National Pension Summit for professionals, while day five would feature Press Day, where outcomes and communique would be shared.

The conference, with the theme: From Reform to Reality: Renewed Hope Pension Security for Nigerians, brought together pensioners, the media, pension fund administrators, pension union (PenOp), and other stakeholders.

By Sam Otuonye 

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, have said that Nigeria was entering into a new phase of turning macroeconomic stability into faster growth, more private investment and stronger domestic revenues, after reviewing the progress of Nigeria’s reforms with the President of the World Bank Group, Mr Ajay Banga.

The meeting which took place on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday, also discussed how Nigeria could make greater use of World Bank guarantee instruments to unlock financing for infrastructure and draw more private capital into the domestic market. 

Banga commended the progress of Nigeria’s reforms, noting the rise in private capital inflows from about $300 million in 2023 to nearly $6 billion in 2026, a twentyfold increase.

Oyedele highlighted the rising economic growth and Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio rise from about 7 per cent to 12.5 per cent over the same period, noting that this gives the government more room to fund public investment without resorting to deficit monetisation.

Power infrastructure and human capital were also identified as priorities for continued public investment, given their importance to business competitiveness, productivity and job creation, as well as the quality of public spending, so that each naira delivers measurable economic and social returns.

The meeting was part of the Federal Government’s wider engagement with development partners to lock in reform gains and attract new investments, create more jobs and better living standards for Nigerians.