The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has earmarked 19 days for projects commissioning in Abuja, as part of activities marking the second year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu.

This was part of the decisions taken at the 14th executive committee meeting of the FCT Administration which was chaired by Wike in Abuja on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.

In a statement issued by the minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the commissioning of projects will commence on June 10, 2025, and will go on for 19 days.

Some of the projects scheduled for commissioning are the newly renovated Abuja International Conference Centre, Bus Terminals in Kugbo and Mabushi as well as Apo-Wassa road.

Others are N16 interchange and roads to connect Maitama through Katampe to Jahi, Inner Nothern Expressway from Ring Road 3 (Idu to Kubwa Road), CN8 from N5 (Obafemi Awolowo Way) to Court of Appeal, N20 Flyover Onnex Kubwa Road, and Life Junction to Ring Road III.

Also to be commissioned are Kabulsa-Takushara Access Road, Kabusa-Ketti Access Road, access road in Giri District, 15km Road from A2 Junction Abuja-Lokoja Road to Pai in Kwali Area Council, as well as the Ushafa, War College, and Army Checkpoint roads in Bwari Area Council.

Olayinka further disclosed that the FCT Executive Committee approved the award of contract for the upgrade of streetlights on Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway (Ring Road I).

The Acting Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Richard Dauda, said the project was among the seven approved memos submitted by the FCDA for consideration.

Dauda explained that the project involves the upgrade of the obsolete streetlights on the Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway, a 14-kilometre 10-lane expressway from Maitama to Gudu.He said the upgrade became necessary following available new technology in street lightning.

He added that a hybrid street lighting system would be deployed to brighten the road and make it more secure and more motorable in the night.

Aliko Dangote, the Chairman Aliko Dangote Foundation and President/Chief Executive, Dangote Industries Limited, has been named in the inaugural 2025 TIME100 Philanthropy list, which recognises the 100 most influential leaders shaping the future of philanthropy across the world.

Dangote is the only Nigerian on this distinguished list.

The prestigious list, published by TIME Magazine on Tuesday, features Aliko Dangote, whose Foundation spends an average of $35 million a year on programmes across Africa, alongside other global figures in charitable work, such as Michael Bloomberg, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, and Melinda Gates, all of whom are recognised as Titans.

A total of 100 influential individuals from 28 countries have been honoured for their philanthropic efforts in four categories: Titans, Leaders, Trailblazers, and Innovators, with Dangote emerging as one of the 23 Titans.

TIME highlighted Dangote’s remarkable rise to wealth, having built a fortune of $23.9 billion through ventures in cement, agriculture, and oil refining in Nigeria.

However, his philanthropic efforts are equally noteworthy.

My mother instilled in me the ethos of giving back, which inspired my philanthropy 30 years ago.

In 2014, he endowed the Aliko Dangote Foundation with $1.25 billion, with the aim of giving back to the continent that played such a key role in his success.

The foundation spends on average of $35 million each year on various initiatives across Nigeria and Africa. “Investing in nutrition, health, education, and economic empowerment is our contribution to setting Africans up for success” – Dangote remarked, reflecting the foundation’s core priorities.

Among the foundation’s ongoing efforts is a $100 million multi-year initiative to combat severe childhood malnutrition.

Furthermore, an earlier vaccine programme in Nigeria, developed in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others, contributed to the World Health Organisation’s 2020 declaration that polio had been eradicated from Africa, Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa and the last country to eradicate the disease. Education is another area where Dangote is making a significant impact.

He recently announced a $10 million donation to the Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, based in Kano State.

The conglomerate has provided a wealth of infrastructural support to the country’s tertiary institutions.In 2019, the Federal Government revealed that the N1.2 billion hostel donated by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was the largest donation ever made by an individual to a university in Nigeria’s history at that time.

As a member of The Global Business Coalition for Education, the Aliko Dangote Foundation has also focused on early childhood education.

Through the Mu Shuka Iri (Let’s Plant a Seed) programme, local women – affectionately known as “Aunties” – are trained in Montessori-style education to become community educators in Kano.

The foundation’s investments in education include providing vocational training and providing scholarships at the secondary and tertiary levels, in addition to offering annual fellowships through the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders programme.

“We need to create the next generation of African leaders,” Dangote says, underscoring his commitment to long-term societal change.

“My mother instilled in me the ethos of giving back, which inspired my philanthropy 30 years ago.

I trust my three daughters will continue this legacy, just as they will continue to grow our business and impact. I want to be known not just as Africa’s richest person but also as its biggest philanthropist.”

A police officer in Ibadan has shot and killed a student who was heading to the examination centre to sit for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination being organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The incident happened on Gbagi market road in the Egbeda Local Government Area of the state when a stray bullet allegedly fired by a police officer in pursuit of a suspect hit and allegedly killed the student on Tuesday.

Investigations revealed that the boy was on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother when the incident struck.

The student, according to multiple eyewitnesses, was on his way to the examination centre.

An eyewitness, simply identified as Ajani, said, “A police officer opened fire while chasing a fleeing vehicle.

One of the bullets reportedly hit the student. The student was riding on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother.

“The victim was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Another witness said, “The deceased was on his way to the examination centre alongside his twin brother when the tragedy happened.”

Meanwhile, irate youths took the student’s lifeless body to the state Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, to demand justice and called on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene.

The deceased body has been deposited at Adeoyo Hospital morgue.

As of press time, authorities have not released an official statement on the incident.