Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, an exemplary gentleman, in this interview conducted by Huhuonline.com publisher, Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe and Managing Editor, Valerian Agbaw-Ebai bares his mind on mind-boggling issues bothering on his challenges in governance vis-a-viz his performance amid criticism, security in Northern Nigeria and many other national issues.
Huhuonline.com: For about a year, you ran Osun State without a cabinet. Is this an innovation in governance?
Rauf Aregbesola: No, it was not up to a year, I was sworn in November, 2010 and constituted my cabinet in August of 2011. It was about nine months. I ran the government without a cabinet because we had no money to pay wages. The state was bankrupt; I inherited an N18.3bn debt overhang. The debt overhang would not have been an issue if it were not a short-term debt with stringent terms. Every month for the state to meet its wage bill, the state had to take N1bn loan to augment whatever was left in terms of its revenue to settle salaries and wages. That was the state we met and; because of my commitment to the large pool of unemployed youth, I had to do something.
Rather than hold on to that critical need, I moved on the implementation of my youth empowerment programme and postponed the composition of the cabinet.
Please before you go further, ask yourself, is there any time line for cabinet composition in an executive government? For parliamentary system of government, of course there can`t be a government without a composition of cabinet. But in the executive government structures, it is usually unnecessary
Utilizing the same latitude the constitution provides, I was busy reorganizing my finances to meet pressing needs and critical programmes such as the youth empowerment scheme and again sufficiently building up reserve with which I will prosecute other important progammes as well as fund cabinet.
Cabinet is not just gathering of people, whether competent of incompetent. In my own case, I took time to select competent people. It is constituting a body; it is having the resources to make them do what they are supposed to do in government and provide them the wherewithal to serve in their respective positions. That, we struggled to do, which aided their performance when they were sworn in 12th August 2011.
Huhuonline.com: Your plan to introduce Ifa studies in secondary schools in your state has enraged parents, many of who now want to withdraw their wards from public schools. How do you plan to address this?
Rauf Aregbesola: First of all, I will not engage on religion, because when you reduce issues to emotions, not much is gained. You should therefore run away from sentiments and emotions. Religion is sensitive, emotive and could be sensational, to that extent I will not go into but I will answer your question. Before assuming office, I told the people that we would be fair to all manners of men. In my oath of office, it is so clear, it is constitutional that whoever occupies the position I occupy must shun discrimination of whatever nature, that is summarizing it. That particular line in the constitution says you should be fair to all manners of men regardless of any distinction be it gender distinction, shift distinction. You swear.
You must swear as part of oath of allegiance and duty to the people to be fair to all men. The question we must ask ourselves is, are there people in Osun State who are adherents of Ifa? We have to be careful when these issues come up. Don’t reduce it to religion. My religion does not accept Ifa, I don`t patronize Ifa. But the question we must ask ourselves are there people in Osun who are adherents of Ifa, if the answer is yes, then we ought to be careful. They are citizens; they are not sub citizens. They are full citizens deserving recognition, including government support just as you have Christians, Muslims, and atheists, who don’t believe in anything.
What do you call discrminatiom? Discrimination is conscious act against the interest of somebody who is equally recognized by constitution to have what you are denying them. I want to see the injury to anybody if as I have done, we recognize the rights of others.
Today in Osun, we recognise traditional religion in all official functions, so when a Muslim prays, a Christian prays also; traditional worshipers also pray. Initially it was offensive to the two dominant religions. But later they got to understand that it was indeed hypocritical for any government produced by plurality of votes to limit recognition of faith to just two. In the same manner, we are not forcing anybody in private institution to study anything.
What we are simply doing to the extent public school is for all those who believe in God and those who don`t believe in God- Those who worship God through Christian method and those who worship God through Muslim method and those who worship traditionally. It is our duty to allow them to worship the way they choose to worship and have knowledge of how they worship.
The question I expect from you and several other media practioners is, are we making Ifa studies compulsory? The answer is no. Just as we are not making the study of the Bible compulsory or study of the Quran compulsory. We can`t make study of Ifa compulsory. It is optional!
Can anybody legislate faith? When people talk I just laugh. If up till now in Nigeria. CRS( Christian Religious Studies) and IRK(Islamic Religious Knowledge) are not legislated in public schools, why would Ifa be legislated in schools.
We tend to glamorize rubbish- by seeing issues in their clear and reasonable perspective but attempt to confuse what has been done. CRS has been on for as long as we have had western education. Same with the IRK. But no government has ever given recognition to traditional religious studies. Thus we don’t even have teachers to teach Ifa religion.
All we have done is develop a system of electronic learning, in the system we have all examinable subjects that are taught in High School in Osun. This includes CRK, an examinable subject, and IRK, another examinable subject.
Besides those examinable subjects, the only other place you can have any semblance of Ifa knowledge is in Yoruba. There will be some mention, reference to Ifa but there is no exposure to Ifa. CRK as a subject is distinct from Bible. You may say Bible is the source. There is no doubt about that. IRK has its source from the Quran, but its distinct from the Quran.
For those who want to know about Ifa, we have provided a reference material in the “tablet of knowledge.” just like we did with Bible and Quran.
In the usual annual prayers, we have been having in Osun, one of the priests raised the issue of recognition of traditional religion and I informed him that it not just a question of recognizing traditional religion, we have in the “tablet of knowledge” that we shall be distributing Quran, Bible and Ifa.
That does not mean that Ifa is made compulsory; it is an elective, it’s uploaded in this electronic device for whoever cares to know read about it.
Ifa religion is morals- the course content are importance of patience, importance of money, sex education, roles of language in society, dangers in polygamy, awareness and appreciation of God.
Religion is a touchy subject. In our society are people who do nothing but worship Ifa, just as you feel about your own religion, they too feel bad that their children are taught CRK and IRK. If we want to strip it of any arrogance, what is it that gives one the right to think his religion is superior to others? It is bigamy, prejudice conditioned and forced by those who have been managing our affairs. We cannot be so enslaved for life.
I am Muslim, my religion tells me it is the only religion, only way of life. The question which we should ask ourselves is, is that permitted in modern civilized society? The answer is no. No matter how hard I feel about my religion, I can only have such say for myself. I can’t impose it on you. That is the ethos of modernity that is civilization; that is what we call socialization in modern time: accommodation and acceptance of differences between you and the other. If that becomes relevant, we must be able tolerate those with varying opinions on faith. You don’t have more rights than the man who does not believe anything. What must not be done to you is for your child to be compelled to study Ifa. At that time, you must say no, because it is against your belief. So also it is against the belief of Ifa adherents to have their children forced to learn Bible or the Quran.
Huhuonline.com: Can we say, the governor has taken in terms of public policy, take the least common denominator and say ok, this issue is controversial and heat up the polity, let us take way religion whether western or indigenous out public space.
Rauf Aregbesola: Listen, If we remove the study of IRK and CRK, there will be more hoopla. It may be difficult for you to accept, but your mind tells you this man is telling you the truth. What is called civilization? It is matured relationship. That is the capacity to absorb the nuances and excesses of the other man without taking offence because you know in the public space you have the right. Somebody can be Agnosium, It unethical, unhealthy, but the best you can is to move away from him. I had to make that point to know that what is called civility is the ability to accommodate others. The point I’m trying to make is, what is it is about Ifa that offends so badly?
Ifa teaches about the importance of patience. Let’s read what it says: “In Yoruba traditional religion, patience and perseverance in every human endeavor is held in high esteem. They believe that for one to excel in life one needs to endure a more challenging encounter to one’s journey to success.”
If indeed governance is about creation of awareness, popularization of culture, promote accommodation of differences, I think it perfectly in order to allow students know their culture very well and not screened of an aspect of their lives, that is as relevant to them regardless of their faith.
Huhuonline.com: Your Excellency, you seem to court controversy. Recall that you were in court for three years, trying to reclaim your mandate; you were accused of masterminding a bombing; and more recently, you were alleged to have ties with a radical Moslem group linked with the Boko Haram Islamist sect. Do you actually have ties with Boko Haram?
Rauf Aregbesola :You claimed that I have been linked with radical Islam, How? I won a popular mandate. Even going by your own admission, which I say is false. How can somebody win a popular mandate if he is identified with a radical sect, which is in the minority? When was the phenomenon of Boko Haram? When was my mandate? Boko Haram became a phenomenon in 2009, I ran for office in 2007. So where is the link?
You went further to say I was linked with a bombing incident, honorably speaking, nothing can be more fallacious; there was no such thing anywhere; they’re just your own fabrication. And I want to appeal to people in the media that it is in our collective interest to take pain to crosscheck our facts before putting them in public domain, because once they are in the public domain they are permanent; because we do not want misinform the public. This is high responsibility, which we must all seek to be conscious of before we launch out, otherwise we will be injuring people unnecessarily while propagating rubbish and falsehood. But I will put the issues in context. Rauf Aregbesola is confidently and unpretentious a Muslim. And that is a right I have, just as very one the right to bear the faith they profess.
Rauf Aregbesola, however, from school, had always proclaimed the amiable right of everybody to freely profess their religion and on that ground I can lay down my life to ensure that nobody is disallowed from professing his religion. I don’t understand anything that we mean by radical Islam; criminals are criminals, whether they are Christians or they are Muslims. A criminal is a criminal. Whoever takes life for any reason either in the course of posolisation or robbery for material gain is a criminal and must be seen as such. That you must understand and that you must see from the fact that I will defend the right of anybody to profess their faith
Thirdly, it is unfortunate that we are very quick to hold on to allegations even when several statements have been issued to debunk those allegations. You read the allegation that I was sponsoring radical Islam, One will like to you to equally make reference to our rebuttal to the allegations.
Huhonline.com: That is why we are giving you this opportunity.
Rauf Aregbesola: If you have read it, you will not even bother asking such questions, because SSS denied issuing that statement. I went to the DG of SSS and said to him, I read this about my person, please for goodness sake, let me have your proof. And he asked me, did I ever contact you that any such statement was made? So why are you accusing us.
I was interviewed in the premises of SSS, and I told the world that the SSS Czar denied issuing such statement.
Huhuonline.com: Excellency, The SSS lie a lot !!!
Rauf Aregbesola: Why was that statement issued? We told the world! Our opponents, believing that if were so stigmatized, it would help them, went about the campaign of calumny, submitting falsehood. We did not stop there; we told the whole world that a man that will accused of Islamisation must be seen in its total form. I have cabinet of 36 members. Cabinents are not formed by elections, cabinets are formed by choice. So a man interested in Islamazation will surround himself with muslims. I have six Muslims among 36 cabinet members. I had a choice when I was running to pick a Muslim as my running mate; I picked a fire brand Christian as running mate, a member of Mountain of Fire and Miracles. That is not all, we have 26 members in the state house of assembly, 10 or less are Muslims.
Huhuonline.com: Your Excellency, Assembly members came in by elections, anyway.
Rauf Aregbesola : Listen, now, you will say that the man wanted to run a faith-based government. You know I am the governor, don’t miss it. Don`t forget I was already a governor before they were elected, before they even ran for the election. Don`t try to reduce the impact of my influence if I wanted to do otherwise. I became a governor in 2010, Assembly election was 2011. I had enough time. Don’t ever gloss over it, please, it is important, because when you want to tell people that I am simply mischievous, you can`t just close it down. If you do, you are mischievous, too.
We have 31 executives at the local government level, sworn in by me, as caretaker committee members, only 10 are Muslims. When you now sum this up, where then is the meat of this allegation? Probably what they are telling you.
Huhuonline.com: It is what we read.
Rauf Aregbesola: What they are telling you, you now take hook line and sinker, in a clime where it is almost a crime to appear as Muslim, I do with relish. In a clime where public office is already seen as a caucus for conformity, a non-conformist is there, who does not give any nonsense about his own faith. I therefore appear in the public sometimes as traditional Yoruba person, sometimes as a Muslim. I concede to others the right to be who they are within the law. I think I have a right to be who I am within the law. That is all.
Huhuonline.com: Do you wear your religion on your sleeve?
Rauf Aregbesola: What makes you think you don’t wear yours on your sleeve?
Huhuonline.com: I don’t hold public office, you are the governor.
Rauf Aregbesola: (Laughter) everything about me is liberal, unless when you want to be openly mischievous.
You met me yesterday; did anything suggest to you that I am a fundamentalist? Nothing, it is a question of perception and the impression you want to have. I said there can’t be a more determined advocate of accommodation than me. In all public statements and outings, I tell people that what you call life has no other definition than service, and service has no colour of religion or colour of nationalism, either ethnic or general nationalism. Service is service, so if that is my ethos, which I preach, which I live by, which I demonstrate, where is this absolute falsehood of somebody being what he is not.
This is not my first time in public office. I was in public office for eight years; I have not changed a bit, in either my public appearance or attitude. I have been like this. I appear in the way that I believe is best suited, for as long as it does not offend the laws of the land. I want to believe just I expect of others; I want to believe everybody has the right to live by his own code, which does not offend the general code of society. I don`t know how well I have responded to you.
Huhuonline.com: In the last presidential election, your state voted against President Jonathan, despite your party`s stance, which made it possible for the presidential candidate of the ruling party to win the presidential election in all ACN-controlled states. What informed this decision, and if the same scenario reoccurs in 2015, will you tow the same line?
Rauf Aregbesola: I don’t know where got you this information from, Can you let me have the categorical endorsement of Jonathan by the ACN. There was no open or secret endorsement of President Ebele Jonathan by my party. My party fielded a candidate, and what we did in Osun was to tow the party line. People must not forget that National Chairman of my party, Chief Bisi Akande is from Osun and sensitive and all important election like that it will have been difficult for the party not to give total support to the most senior person, to the highest leadership of the party as exemplified by Chief Bisi Akande. So without any doubt or cause to want to reduce the decision of the party in Osun as well as the overwhelming support that the party enjoys, I want to tell you that we simply voted for our party to justify the level of popularity that we enjoy in the state.
Huhuonline.com: What is your take on the present security challenge in Nigeria? what does Nigeria needs to overcome the security problems, particularly in the North?
Rauf Aregbesola: In all my public statements on the instability in Northern Nigeria, I have all ways been very didactic. When you are didactic about a thing, you are not just superficial. I have spoken at two public events, specifically on the challenges of security in Northern Nigeria. I said that in any environment where disparity exists in the economic status of the people there to the extent that some have more than what they need and a large majority wallow in poverty, unless you bridge the gap, tension, social tension crisis and all sorts of criminality cannot be avoided.
Today, the insurgency in the North is such that we must embark on an immediate youth empowerment programme that will remove the social base for the recruitment of disempowered, disaffected, angered youths that readily gravitate to the misdirected sponsors of the violence. That was why rather than go about forming cabinet even in my own state, in spite of my challenges in funding I pursued aggressively Youth empowerment and I am the first government in the history of Nigeria to develop mass youth empowerment programme that engages 20,000 able-bodied, educated unemployed youths. The programme has been adjudged as the best social safety net by the World Bank. When I began that, am still talking about that, I expect social commentators to readily link my position on the economy and the consequences of solving the economic ethos in the Nigerian polity as the antidote to removing the tension, instability and insecurity.
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The daughters of veteran Yoruba actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, have appealed for urgent medical assistance for their father, who they say is battling stage-four cancer.
Lima and Kira Taiwo made separate emotional appeals on Instagram, asking Nigerians, medical professionals, cancer specialists and well-wishers to help the actor access further treatment.
The family stressed that the appeal was not for financial donations but for medical intervention and access to specialists or healthcare facilities capable of reviewing the actor’s condition and determining whether further treatment options are available.
In an emotional video, Lima said her father’s condition had deteriorated significantly and claimed that hospitals were no longer willing to continue treating him.
She explained that the family only became aware of the seriousness of his condition about three weeks earlier, noting that his appearance had not initially suggested that he was seriously ill.
According to her, the family was willing to explore any legitimate medical option that could give the actor another chance.
Lima appealed to anyone with connections to oncologists, hospitals or other qualified medical professionals to contact the family.
She also acknowledged the support of a relative who, according to her, had stepped in to assist the family during the difficult period.
Kira, in a separate video, disclosed that her father had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer and said the hospital treating him had informed the family that he could no longer continue with chemotherapy.
She similarly appealed for medical assistance, asking anyone with access to cancer specialists or facilities capable of managing advanced cancer to reach out to the family.
Kira also mentioned the support of Senator Yayi, whom she said had been helping the family with medical expenses.
While pleading for help, she became emotional as she described the pain her father was experiencing and said he had expressed his fear of dying.
The daughters' appeals have since attracted support from several prominent figures in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Actor and filmmaker Femi Adebayo urged the public to rally around Hassan and help the family connect with qualified oncology specialists and advanced treatment centres.
Adebayo said the family's immediate need was medical direction rather than financial assistance. He encouraged people with contacts in the oncology field, both in Nigeria and abroad, to help the family have the actor's medical records reviewed and identify possible treatment options.
Actress Toyin Abraham also shared the family's appeal on Instagram, asking anyone who could assist to contact Kira, Lima or her directly.
Meanwhile, medical doctor Olusina Ajidahun, known on X as The Bearded Dr Sina, offered a different perspective on the daughters' description of the situation.
Ajidahun cautioned that saying hospitals had “refused to treat” the actor could create the impression that medical professionals were deliberately abandoning him.
He explained that patients with advanced, stage-four cancer may sometimes be moved from active cancer treatment to palliative care after available chemotherapy and other therapies have been considered or exhausted.
Palliative care focuses on controlling symptoms, relieving pain and improving quality of life when a disease can no longer be effectively cured. It does not necessarily mean that healthcare professionals have simply abandoned a patient.
Ajidahun also warned the public against unverified claims that herbal preparations can cure advanced cancer. He said such remedies could potentially cause additional complications, particularly if they interfere with established medical treatment or damage other organs.
He further explained that stage-four cancer generally indicates that a cancer has spread from its original site to other parts of the body, although the exact implications and available treatment options depend on the particular cancer and the individual patient's medical circumstances.
The doctor clarified that he was not involved in Hassan's treatment and was commenting independently in response to the videos posted by the actor's daughters.
Taiwo Hassan, 66, is one of the most recognisable figures in Yoruba-language cinema. With a career spanning more than four decades, he has appeared in hundreds of Nigerian films and has built a reputation as one of the industry's veteran performers.
As of the time of the reports, Hassan's management and family had not released a detailed official statement identifying the type of cancer, the hospital where he is receiving care, or the specific treatment he has undergone.
The family's appeal has nevertheless prompted renewed calls for qualified medical professionals and cancer treatment centres to review the actor's case and advise on any medically appropriate options that may remain available.
News
Twenty-four companies now account for nearly three-quarters of the total value of Nigeria’s equities market, highlighting the growing concentration of market wealth among a relatively small group of large-cap stocks.
As of August 17, 2026, the companies had a combined market capitalisation of N117.01 trillion, representing 74.8 per cent of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) equities market, whose total capitalisation stood at N156.52 trillion.
The NGX market capitalisation has increased by N57.14 trillion, or 57.5 per cent, from N99.38 trillion at the end of 2025.
The sharp rise has been supported by strong gains across several sectors, particularly banking, consumer goods, industrial goods and energy. However, the concentration of market value means that the performance of a relatively small number of heavyweight stocks can have a significant influence on the broader market.
Large-cap stocks dominate the market
Dangote Cement Plc emerged as the most valuable company on the NGX, with a market capitalisation of N17.15 trillion, overtaking MTN Nigeria Plc.
BUA Foods Plc and BUA Cement Plc followed with N13.69 trillion each, while Aradel Holdings Plc was valued at N6.72 trillion.
Other companies among the most highly capitalised stocks included First Holdco Plc, HBM Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, GTCO Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc, Presco Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc.
The 24 companies are spread across several major sectors, with banks accounting for a significant portion of the list.
Banks maintain a strong presence
First Holdco led the banking stocks with a market capitalisation of N6.37 trillion, followed by Zenith Bank at N5.04 trillion and GTCO at N4.70 trillion.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings was valued at N2.56 trillion, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) stood at N1.99 trillion.
Access Holdings and Fidelity Bank had market capitalisations of N1.45 trillion and N1.38 trillion respectively. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Wema Bank followed with N1.27 trillion and N1.16 trillion.
The strong performance of banking stocks has been linked to improved investor sentiment and the sector's recapitalisation programme, which has encouraged expectations of stronger balance sheets and greater capacity for future growth.
Consumer goods stocks remain prominent
BUA Foods was the largest consumer-related company on the list, with a market capitalisation of N13.69 trillion.
Presco followed at N2.40 trillion, while Nestle Nigeria was valued at N2.22 trillion.
Nigerian Breweries and International Breweries recorded market capitalisations of N2.10 trillion and N1.79 trillion respectively.
Although consumer-facing companies have benefited from expectations of improved operating conditions, the sector continues to contend with elevated production costs, inflationary pressures and weak household purchasing power.
Industrial giants drive market value
The industrial goods sector is another major source of market concentration.
Dangote Cement led the sector with a market capitalisation of N17.15 trillion. BUA Cement followed with N13.69 trillion, while HBM Nigeria had a market value of N5.38 trillion.
The size of these companies means that changes in their share prices can significantly affect overall market performance.
Energy stocks gain prominence
The energy segment also featured prominently among the largest companies.
Seplat Energy and Aradel Holdings each recorded market capitalisations of N6.72 trillion, while Geregu Power stood at N2.06 trillion and Transcorp Power at N1.65 trillion.
The growing representation of energy companies reflects increasing investor interest in Nigeria's oil, gas and power businesses.
Market rally masks wide differences among stocks
Despite the strong performance of the broader market, individual stocks have produced vastly different returns.
Zichis Agro Allied Industries was the best-performing stock year-to-date as of August 17, gaining 1,744.22 per cent to N18.35 per share.
SCOA Nigeria rose 365.49 per cent to N33.05, while Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank gained 221.43 per cent to N11.25.
Berger Paints Nigeria increased by 207.50 per cent to N147.60, while Premier Paints appreciated by 204 per cent to N30.40.
Other major gainers included First Holdco, up 198.51 per cent to N140; Vitafoam Nigeria, which gained 153.04 per cent to N194; and HBM Nigeria, which rose 149.25 per cent to N334.
However, the market rally did not benefit all investors.
Sovereign Trust Insurance was the worst-performing stock, falling 50.39 per cent to N1.89.
Ellah Lakes declined 41.52 per cent to N8.10, while Guinea Insurance dropped 43.37 per cent to N0.76.
SUNU Assurances Nigeria fell 39.64 per cent to N3.32, while Austin Laz declined 39.06 per cent to N2.84.
Royal Exchange, Triple Gee & Company, Champion Breweries and Universal Insurance also recorded significant declines.
Transcorp Power fell 28.45 per cent to N219.60 despite the overall strength of the market.
Asset size paints a different picture
Market capitalisation is not the only measure of corporate size.
When companies are ranked by total assets, the picture changes considerably.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated had the largest asset base in the second quarter of 2026, with total assets of N49.15 trillion.
First Holdco followed with N30.65 trillion, while Aradel Holdings recorded N10.88 trillion.
FCMB had total assets of N8.36 trillion and Oando N7.89 trillion.
Dangote Cement reported N6.62 trillion in assets, followed by MTN Nigeria with N5.97 trillion and Sterling Holdings with N4.67 trillion.
BUA Cement and BUA Foods recorded total assets of N1.92 trillion and N1.67 trillion respectively.
However, a large asset base does not necessarily translate into high profitability or strong shareholder returns. For financial institutions in particular, substantial assets are often accompanied by significant liabilities.
Negative equity raises investor concerns
The second-quarter balance sheets also highlight differences in financial strength.
Ecobank Transnational had shareholders' equity of N3.17 trillion, while First Holdco recorded N3.63 trillion.
MTN Nigeria had positive equity of N930.61 billion, while Sterling Holdings reported N547.67 billion.
Dangote Cement had equity of about N3.17 trillion. Jaiz Bank and United Capital recorded positive equity of N93.6 billion and N187.09 billion respectively.
However, Aradel Holdings reported negative equity of N2.16 trillion despite having total assets of N10.88 trillion.
Oando also recorded negative equity of N530.45 billion against total assets of N7.89 trillion.
Negative equity does not automatically mean that a company is incapable of recovering, but it warrants closer examination of its debt obligations, cash flows, capital structure and plans to strengthen its balance sheet.
Analysts urge investors to look beyond the index
Market analysts have cautioned investors against interpreting the NGX's strong headline performance as evidence of a broad-based improvement across all listed companies.
David Adonri, an analyst and Chief Executive Officer of Highcap Securities Limited, said the concentration of market value among a relatively small number of companies makes it important for investors to examine individual stocks rather than rely solely on the All-Share Index.
According to him, strong market performance can conceal significant differences in company fundamentals, earnings and valuations.
He also warned investors against buying stocks simply because they have recorded exceptional year-to-date gains, noting that substantial price appreciation does not necessarily correspond with an equivalent improvement in underlying business performance.
Another analyst at InvestData Consulting Limited advised investors to pay particular attention to companies with negative shareholders' equity.
The analyst said investors should determine whether negative equity is temporary, whether management has a credible recapitalisation or restructuring strategy, and whether the underlying business generates enough cash to meet its financial obligations.
Analysts divided on investment prospects
Analysts' recommendations also show that the market rally has created both opportunities and valuation concerns.
Of the 32 stocks assessed, 17 received Buy or Strong Buy ratings, while 12 were rated Sell or Strong Sell. Three stocks received Neutral ratings.
Among those rated Buy or Strong Buy were Aradel Holdings, Access Holdings, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, FCMB, GTCO, Guinness Nigeria, HBM Nigeria, Honeywell Flour Mills, Nigerian Breweries, Nestle Nigeria, UACN, Transcorp Corporation, UBA, Zenith Bank and Cadbury Nigeria.
Stocks receiving Sell or Strong Sell recommendations included BUA Cement, BUA Foods, Conoil, First Holdco, International Breweries, Julius Berger, Okomu Oil, Presco, PZ Cussons, Stanbic IBTC, TotalEnergies Marketing and Unilever Nigeria.
Fidelity Bank, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and NASCON Allied Industries were rated Neutral.
The divergence in recommendations suggests that investors are becoming more selective as valuations rise.
Analysts said investors should focus on earnings growth, dividend potential, debt levels, cash generation and return on equity when assessing individual stocks.
Concentration presents both opportunity and risk
The dominance of 24 companies in the NGX's total market value underscores the growing influence of large-cap stocks on Nigeria's equity market.
For investors, the strong market rally presents opportunities, but it also highlights the importance of distinguishing between rising share prices and improving business fundamentals.
A stock market can deliver a strong headline return while individual companies experience very different outcomes.
With nearly three-quarters of market capitalisation concentrated in a small group of companies, movements in these stocks will remain critical to the direction of the NGX.
The message for investors is therefore clear: a rising market is not necessarily a uniformly attractive market. Understanding valuations, earnings, balance sheets and cash flows remains essential when deciding where to invest.
Business
In The Spotlight
The Osun election is over, and Governor Ademola Adeleke has won another term. That fact invites a revisit of the prophets, defectors and sages who explained why Osun voters must reject him. Hubris, the Greeks knew, often enters wearing wisdom’s costume and leaves carrying its shoes. In politics, certainty is often merely ignorance wearing a tailored suit.
The first lesson is elementary, yet apparently postgraduate in Nigeria: voters are not an audience waiting for pundits to announce the correct answer. Temitope Ajayi, a Senior Special Assistant to Mr President wanted the voters to elect a “CEO rather than an entertainer”. APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka called Adeleke first term “very dismal” and “lacklustre.” Benjamin Adereti called the administration a “colossal failure,” while Oluremi Omowaye predicted voters would remove him. Ajibola Basiru, Tajudeen Lawal and Iyiola Omisore joined the indictment. Their criticisms were legitimate; their certainty was the experiment.
The Court of Adjectives
One can accuse a government of failure; one cannot appoint oneself clerk of the voters’ conscience. “Dismal,” “lacklustre,” “colossal failure” and “incompetent” are adjectives, not polling units. A ballot does not admire rhetoric; it asks citizens what they think. This does not sanctify Adeleke or invalidate criticism. It demonstrates the difference between argument and verdict: one belongs to commentators, the other to citizens.
Then came the entertainment thesis. Ajayi and others treated Adeleke’s dancing as though Terpsichore had amended the Constitution. Monday Okpebholo, the Governor of Edo State mocked the dancing, questioned meeting attendance and joked about “dancing roads.” Bashir Ahmad, the Former Personal Assistant to President Buhari reportedly bookmarked Davido’s post, anticipating an APC victory and future victory lap. What a museum of premature triumph! As the Yoruba proverb says, when the drummer changes rhythm, the dancer must listen; here, the electorate changed the rhythm.
There is a deeper irony. Governance is not judged by whether a governor looks miserable while working. A dancing governor can fail; a solemn governor can fail magnificently. An exuberant politician can govern competently. The serious questions are roads, schools, health, jobs, debt, investment, institutions and outcomes. President Olusegun Obasanjo’s counsel to Adeleke – do not stop dancing, but work – contains more wisdom than the anti-dance industry. The dance is personality; the work is the test.
The Insiders’ Paradox
Morka, Adereti, Omowaye, Basiru, Lawal and Omisore should not confuse electoral disappointment with a prohibition on criticism. Democracy needs vigilant opposition. But the stronger the allegation, the stronger the evidence required. If the government was catastrophic, show figures, baselines, procurement records and outcomes. In the Republic of Evidence, adjectives are unemployed.
Then there are former insiders: Moyoade Lukman and Azeez Kazeem, who served as Adeleke’s aides before breaking ranks and campaigning against him. Lukman called his APC move a “homecoming”; Kazeem abandoned his appointment for Bola Oyebamiji. Yet a riddle remains: if the house was uninhabitable, why did the discovery arrive after you acquired a room key? They were inside the kitchen, not tourists at the window.
Dr Leye Olagbaju and Asamo Gbenga, from the Accord camp, also rejected Adeleke’s candidacy and questioned his leadership capacity. Yet Nigerian politics turns former companions into overnight Herodotuses, each suddenly possessing the definitive history of the man they once embraced. Proximity gives information, not omniscience. A former ally may know where the furniture is kept and still misunderstand why guests keep arriving.
The Missing Political Arithmetic
The APC and ADC also appear to have overlooked a stubborn feature of Osun politics: power shift. All three leading contenders – Ademola Adeleke, Bola Oyebamiji and Najeem Salaam – came from Osun West. Osun Central and Osun East could ask: if the West retains power now, when does our turn become plausible? Adeleke’s second term potentially creates a clearer succession horizon. Some voters may have seen not merely a candidate, but a timetable. Electoral arithmetic is rarely as simple as campaign arithmetic suggests.
This is Nigerian politics 101, though campaign strategists treat it like an optional seminar. Identity politics does not always arrive with drums and banners. Sometimes it whispers in compounds, markets, party meetings, families, traditional circles and WhatsApp groups. It asks: whose turn, from where, and after whom? Zoning can function as an informal bargain over inclusion where groups fear exclusion. Disliking that logic does not make it disappear.
The Humbling of the Sure
That is where campaign confidence became comic weakness. Critics saw a referendum on Adeleke’s performance; many voters were also seeing a referendum on succession. The opposition could present promises, yet voters could calculate geography, identity and tomorrow simultaneously. Politics is not Euclid’s geometry; it is a marketplace of memory, expectation, fear, interest and hope. The television winner may lose at the polling booth. Aristotle understood persuasion requires knowing the audience; Nigerian politics adds that audiences may smile politely and vote differently.
And so, certainty met the old proverb: the person who says the road is clear may be the one who has not looked around the bend. Oyebamiji ran a serious race and should not become a punchline. Salaam also contested seriously. Their defeat is not evidence of incompetence; their coalitions simply did not assemble enough votes. Democracy becomes vulgar when every winner becomes a genius and loser a fool.
These political actors should resist explaining Osun back to Osun. Lukman and Kazeem may retain their convictions; Olagbaju and Gbenga theirs. Ajayi may keep believing in CEOs. Ahmad may keep his bookmark. Okpebholo may keep dancing around dancing. Morka can scrutinise. Basiru, Adereti, Omowaye, Lawal and Omisore can oppose. None must surrender principle; all should surrender the fiction that confidence equals knowledge.
For Adeleke, victory is not absolution. A second mandate is a heavier moral contract. He must make critics eat their words through roads that last, schools that function, hospitals that heal, agriculture that produces, jobs that endure, institutions that strengthen and public money that survives scrutiny. The finest reply to “entertainer” is development; the finest answer to “dismal” is performance.
Democracy is the institutionalisation of uncertainty: nobody owns the future, and nobody is entitled to permanent correctness. Socrates understood that wisdom begins with recognising the limits of knowledge. Shakespeare gave Prospero’s reminder that certainties are fragile. Parties that ask why predictions failed may become wiser; parties that blame voters will merely become louder.
The election has answered them all – not by proving Adeleke flawless, but by puncturing the conceit that declaration can substitute for persuasion. Osun voters weighed performance, personality, identity, geography, loyalty, fear, hope and succession, then chose. We may dispute their arithmetic, but cannot confiscate their answer. The ballot is the people’s footnote, sometimes rewriting the book.
Congratulations to His Excellency, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, on his re-election. Let the music become measurable progress, not merely memorable choreography. Dance, Governor, but let every step move Osun forward; let every turn open a road, every rhythm create opportunity, every flourish produce measurable public good. Dance past the pothole, classroom deficit, hospital queue and unemployment line. Dance Osun into development, prosperity and institutional seriousness through 2030. If you do, your reply to the prophets will require no press release. The results will speak, and history will applaud.
By Abdulrauf Aliyu
In The Spotlight
I had initially planned that Long Range would address a troubling scenario in our nation’s beleaguered history, where religion appears to have stolen the leaders’ and the citizens’ brains while we all scheme to glorify ourselves and vainly attempt to scheme against the one we claim to serve. Have you ever wondered why evil continues its ascendancy in the land when churches and mosques grow uncontrollably in every nook and cranny?
These organisations are mostly meant to conceal our shady interactions, criminal corruption and moral somersaults. This will have to wait today, though, till another auspicious time.
A recent visit by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers to President Bola Tinubu on Thursday has put paid to this plan (at least temporarily) to avoid being carried away by the much religious matters while the nation embarks on another fruitless venture to please some self-serving, transactional unionists whose actions have done more than enough damage to the progress of the country.
I have waited for three solid days for Tinubu to stoutly refute a statement ascribed to him to revive the nation’s dead refineries during the visit of NUPENG leaders to the Villa led by its Executive President, Salimon Oladiti. It might not be out of place to suggest that the President might have been humbled by the ‘executiveness’ of the union president’s office. I hope I didn’t hear you complain of Nigerians craze for titles.
I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that our dear President must have started hearing some strange voices that sane Nigerians might not be able to understand concerning the promised revival of the dead refineries. If I may ask you, which refinery is Tinubu planning to revive among the obsolete plants in Port Harcourt, Warri or Kaduna? Thank goodness, he hasn’t specified yet.
At the risk of telling the President what he already knows, it may be necessary to remind Tinubu that former President Olusegun Obasanjo sold 51 per cent stake of the refineries in Port Harcourt to an Aliko Dangote-led consortium for $56m before he exited office as President in 2007. NUPENG’s sister labour union, the Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, desperately opposed the sale of the refineries.
OBJ characteristically dismissed the association’s threats by selling the refinery to the Dangote-led Bluestar consortium, but PENGASSAN still pressured the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to reverse the sale of the refinery, correctly described as scraps by Obasanjo, immediately after Yar’Adua mounted the saddle in 2007. Not only that.
The nation opted to pay $25m for cancelling the sale, apart from paying back the initial agreed sum, a development some Yoruba will describe as an ‘Akotileta’ economic model.
Aside from the fact that the refineries hadn’t produced fuel since the regime of the Minna dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (1985 – 1993), Obasanjo, on the recommendation of some experts, said the refineries had become obsolete while the contractors that produced the equipment of the refineries no longer existed. He might have been correct to have described the refineries as scraps.
That the four refineries did not produce a litre of petrol in about three decades did not stop the drama. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation continued to pay idle workers, including hundreds of members of the amorphous NUPENG and PENGASSAN excos, huge wages and maintain comatose facilities for years for zero productivity.
As if the scandalous payment of salaries to idle and non-existent workers was not enough, the former Group Managing Director of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, negotiated and secured a $3.3bilion loan-for- crude deal with AFREXIM Bank under a dubious claim of repairing long-forgotten refineries and boosting crude production in August 2023, right under Tinubu’s watch.
All the consortium of lies to bring back the Port Harcourt refineries to justify the brazen theft of the humongous $3.3bn loan fell flat in 2025 when the facility ignored all human pressure to make it work while more lies continued to fly. So, where is the loan? Where is the money? And where is the working refinery?
While the racketeers are licking their cursed soup somewhere, Nigerians are slaving to pay for this barefaced robbery that took place under our dear President, who is equally planning to bring back dead refineries to life. I never knew before now that, apart from being a deft politician, Tinubu is equally a very powerful prophet, especially at giving life back to dead facilities; this could partly have motivated his promise to resurrect dead refineries.
Can someone do me a favour by reminding the President of the February 4, 2026, testimony of the current NNPCL’s GMD, Bayo Ojulari, concerning the dead refineries Tinubu had promised to bring to life? Ojulari emphatically stated that the corporation was operating the refineries at “monumental losses”, producing comparatively low-value products and that NNPCL presently lacked the capacity to operate them profitably.
I once learnt that Tinubu’s fuel stations in the United States helped to fund the activities of the operatives of Radio Kudirat (including former Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi) and National Democratic Coalition’s chieftains in the Diaspora. I, however, doubt if Tinubu’s current knowledge of the workings of the refineries can match or beat Ojulari’s. In Fela Akikulapo’s word, who is the teacher teaching Tinubu nonsense about the refineries?
Before our dear President ‘carry out his threat’ to embark on the revival of the moribund refineries, which I must admit is ill-advised with due respect, it may be necessary to remind him of a few critical issues to take care of. One of these is to beg him to carry out a comprehensive audit of the funding of previous Turn Around Maintenance of the refineries since 1999 to date.
For some of you who may not know, most of the TAMS contracts in the years past had always been awarded a year before general elections (in the mode of this promised resurrection). Don’t ask me the reasons; I don’t have an idea, but the outcomes had always been the same – dead on arrival, journey to nowhere.
There was a time the Kaduna refinery went up in flames a week after its TAM was completed. A key witness equally died in a strange accident during the probe of the strange fire. Another fire occurred in the facility on November 4, 2002. The fire damaged its Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit — the section essential for producing higher-value products such as petrol. Other incidents before this in other plants were not less predictably curious. Na so we dey run am o!
Like the litany of probes instituted by the National Assembly into many deserving and flippant issues, none of the panels which had sat on the probes of the refinery fire had ever completed their job – no report. Tinubu, therefore, needs to exhume these reports (if ever they exist) from their eternal graves before embarking on another ritual of attempting to start a project that will never be fruitful. It’s not a curse.
Servicing a $3.3bn AFREXIM Bank crude-for-loan deal (as negotiated by Kyari) in a highly controversial manner remains questionable, scandalous and outlandish. The President must tell the nation the status of this fraud-laden deal before ever initiating another move to waste huge sums of our dollars on reviving the nation’s refineries that the NNPCL has equally passed off as operating at “monumental losses”.
I can assure our good-hearted Jagaban, in case he might have been overwhelmed by the pressure of his office (it’s a hot seat, really), that all Nigerians are equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project. A few can’t be swimming in the ocean of our collective sweat while the rest slave daily to shoulder the burden of a debt they never enjoyed the benefits.
If the President fails to act on this complicated $3.3bn loan, I may be forced to leak to him what some concerned personalities have imputed to him concerning this transaction, which would have been impossible without anyone empowering Kyari to ‘take the laws into his own hands’. To learn that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission is not looking into this legacy theft is mind-boggling, very strange.
The President can’t sleep on this deal and mouth the moral right to embark on another wasteful venture to revive dead refineries. This is surely not the way to build a nation that everyone will be proud of no matter the current economic scenario.
Meanwhile, recently, I read about former Vice President Atiku Abubakar carpeting Tinubu for blaming past governments’ actions and inactions for the failure of the refineries. Permit me to briefly transform my presentation into our local mode: Our leaders no get shame at all!
Should an Atiku ever feel he has the moral authority to advise anyone on integrity and moving the nation forward? How can leaders, who took delight in selling state assets to themselves, think that the citizens have forgotten their roles in stripping the nation of its commonwealth? It took Obasanjo as President to practically ‘retrieve’ the old African Petroleum from his VP, using his proxies as fronts. Who has forgotten about other controversial deals perfected as personal entities while serving as a government official?
I make bold to say that Tinubu is not a saint either, just as others who are now parading themselves as presidential candidates in our current political experiment (this word sha after 65 years!) but for some goons to assume the moral vanguards of the nation, which they never possess, is not just inappropriate; it is sour and distasteful.
Those who destroyed the Peoples Democratic Party on the altar of unbridled, self-serving ambition are the same set of people lamenting the death of viable opposition in our political system and expressing the fear of a one-party state. Most times I laugh aloud when I hear our online political warriors trying to sell and defend their ‘heroes’ among Nigerian politicians. The reality in our own clime, at least, is that there is only one political contracting party with many franchising outlets. The practitioners belong to the same political family, no difference, simply substituting themselves at regular and irregular intervals.
It is heartwarming to learn about the housecleaning that Ojulari is reported to be carrying out at the nation’s apex oil corporation, asking some principalities in the firm to volunteer to leave ahead of their original exit time. He needs to go further. Those refinery workers, especially the rapacious unionists, who have been earning wages for doing nothing for about three decades, should all be eased out immediately.
The workers should then be paid from the money realised from the current Chinese investors instead of Tinubu dancing to the manipulations of the unionists by shelling out huge sums on some vague revival of dead entities that won’t birth any fruitful result. If any investors should be supported to succeed, the current loafers feasting on the comatose state of the nation’s refineries should be allowed to take a well-deserved rest at their homes.
The President should be told in clear terms that Nigeria does not need the revival of dead refineries at any moment, no matter the pressure from any quarter. The thought itself should not even come up, let alone the project.
By Ademola Oni