President Bola Tinubu is set to reshuffle his cabinet ahead of the Independence celebration on October 1. BusinessDay sources at the presidency revealed that Tinubu has concluded plans to reshuffle the cabinet in response to criticisms of his administration’s poor handling of the economy.
BusinessDay gathered from reliable sources at the presidency that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Defense, among others, are likely to be affected.

BusinessDay gathered that there is already a disquiet in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the performance of the current administration, fearing that the party may not retain power in 2027 unless there are visible changes in the management of the economy.

A chieftain of the party who spoke with BusinessDay on the condition of anonymity said the party is not comfortable with the way President Tinubu has managed the economy.

We do not understand why he is finding it difficult to replace Simon Lalong, former labour and employment minister long after he officially announced his resignation from the cabinet.

“Look at the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, one of the most strategic ministries designed to give welfare to Nigerians, especially members of our party. It has been vacant without a minister. The president cannot tell us that we do not have a competent person within the party to take over that ministry since the suspension of the former minister.

“Even if they want to recall her, she can be reassigned to any other ministry, but there is no justification for leaving that ministry vacant.

”The APC chieftain revealed that all is not well with the party, noting that 2027 political consideration is being elevated above the current challenges facing the nation.

Ninety-four percent of Nigerian youths believe that the most populous black nation is headed in the wrong direction, the 2024 African Youth Survey says.

The report, recently published by Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation also revealed that 92% of Nigerian youths believe that their country’s economy is headed in the wrong direction.

The report stated that 54% of Nigerian young people are pessimistic about the future of the country

The survey, based on a poll of 5,604 people aged 18 to 24 in 16 African countries, stated that corruption is seen as the single greatest hurdle faced by Nigerian and other African youths to achieve their potential, adding that 60% of young people are looking to emigrate from the continent in the next five years.

“Most of all, they don’t believe their governments are doing enough to address this scourge and because of it almost 60% are looking to emigrate in the next five years,” it said.

North America is the top destination for African youths, followed by Western European countries like the UK, France, Germany, and Spain.

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has issued a flood alert to Nigerians as the management of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon is set to begin regulated water releases into the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, Umar Mohammed, NIHSA’s director-general, said the dam’s regulated water releases will commence on September 17.

Mohammed said the dam managers intend to release the water gradually so as not to exceed the transfer capacity of River Benue and cause major flooding in Nigeria. He said the water will be released at an initial rate of 100 cubic metres per second (m3/s) — 8.64 million cubic metres per day, and gradually increased to 1000 m¾s in the next seven days.

Notwithstanding, it is highly imperative for all states that are contiguous to the Benue River system, namely —Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and Rivers; the government at all levels (Federal, State, and LGAs) to step up vigilance and deploy adequate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flooding that may occur as a result of increased flow levels of our major rivers at this period,” the statement reads.