OPEN LETTER TO HIS EMINENCE, THE SULTAN OF SOKOTO

NIGERIA BELONGS TO ALL OF US

I have written this open letter to His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, CFR, mni, Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, with profound respect for his office and for the historic institution he represents.

This is not an attack on Islam, neither an attack on Christianity.

Also, It is not an attempt to diminish the historical importance of the Sultanate, rather, it is a sincere contribution to a conversation I believe Nigeria must have with greater honesty, courage and intellectual maturity:

What does equal citizenship mean in Nigeria?

Our country has a complex history involving kingdoms, caliphates, indigenous political systems, colonialism, amalgamation, independence, religion, ethnicity and competing political traditions.

But after all that history, one question remains fundamental:

Who does Nigeria belong to? My answer is simple:

Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians.

I am publishing this letter openly because I believe conversations of this magnitude should not be confined to private rooms.

I hope it reaches His Eminence.

More importantly, I hope it reaches Nigerians—Muslims and Christians alike—who believe that our future must be built on equal citizenship, mutual respect, constitutional democracy and a shared sense of belonging.

I invite people to read this letter in that spirit.

Not as a provocation or as a religious argument. But as an invitation to think.

AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EMINENCE, ALHAJI MUHAMMAD SA’AD ABUBAKAR III, CFR, mni

SULTAN OF SOKOTO AND PRESIDENT-GENERAL, NIGERIAN SUPREME COUNCIL FOR ISLAMIC AFFAIRS

Your Eminence,

OUR HISTORY MUST BE REMEMBERED HONESTLY—BUT IT MUST NOT BECOME A CLAIM ON THE FUTURE

Nigeria’s history contains great Muslim civilisations and political institutions.

Kanem-Bornu, the Hausa states and the Sokoto Caliphate represent important chapters in the history of the territories that eventually became Nigeria.

The Sokoto Caliphate, in particular, became one of the most influential Islamic political formations in West Africa.

That history deserves recognition and respect.

But history presents us with an important question:

Does historical political authority confer permanent political ownership?

I believe the answer must be no.

The British colonial conquest and occupation of the territories that now constitute Nigeria occurred over decades, with the conquest of the Sokoto Caliphate culminating in 1903. The Northern and Southern Protectorates were subsequently amalgamated in 1914, and Nigeria achieved independence in 1960.

Whatever political arrangements existed before colonial consolidation, the Nigeria that emerged as a modern sovereign state ultimately became a constitutional republic in which citizenship could not legitimately be based upon the political history of one religion, ethnic group, kingdom or region.

Nigeria became something larger than all of those histories.

It became a country.
And that country belongs equally to the Muslim, the Christian, the adherent of another faith, and the citizen who professes no religion.

Your Eminence, Nigeria’s Constitution does not establish either Islam or Christianity as the religion of the Nigerian state.

Section 10 provides that:

“The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.”

Section 38 protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Section 42 further provides constitutional protection against discrimination on the basis of religion, among other grounds.

These provisions are not merely legal technicalities. They represent an important national compact.

They establish principles of religious neutrality, religious freedom and equal citizenship.

They tell every Nigerian that his or her fundamental rights cannot legitimately depend upon belonging to the “right” religion.

That principle protects Muslims from Christian majoritarianism just as it protects Christians from Muslim majoritarianism.

And therefore, defending constitutional religious neutrality is not an attack on Islam neither an attack on Christianity.
It is protection for both.

THE DIFFICULT QUESTION OF POLITICAL SYMBOLISM

Your Eminence, this is where I believe our national conversation requires greater intellectual honesty.

A political arrangement can have two realities simultaneously:
its strategic reality and its symbolic reality.

Strategically, politicians may see a particular political ticket as an effective coalition, an electoral calculation, a mechanism for consolidating support or a means of improving political cohesion.

But citizens may interpret exactly the same arrangement symbolically.

They may ask:
Who is represented?
Who is included?
Who is excluded?
What does this say about the distribution of power?
What does this mean for people like me?

This distinction became particularly visible in Nigeria’s debate over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.

Some citizens saw strategy while others saw symbolism.
Some saw political competence, Others saw the possibility of religious exclusion.
Both reactions can exist simultaneously.

A mature democracy must therefore be capable of understanding not only what a political arrangement is, but also what people believe that arrangement means.

This is not an argument against Muslims occupying political office nor should it be an argument against Christians occupying political office.

It is an argument for understanding the enormous responsibility that comes with political symbolism in a deeply religious society.

Political leaders must therefore understand that electoral strategy does not exist in a vacuum. Every political decision is interpreted through the lived experiences, fears, hopes and historical memories of the citizens who encounter it.

That is why responsible leadership requires both strategic intelligence and sensitivity to political meaning.

The Muslim citizen must not feel like a tolerated Nigerian, neither should the Christian.

This is perhaps the most important principle I wish to communicate.

A Christian should never have to feel that his citizenship is conditional upon political accommodation by Muslims. A Muslim should never have to feel that his citizenship is conditional upon political accommodation by Christians.

Neither should have to prove that his loyalty to Nigeria is greater than his loyalty to his faith.

Both should be able to say:

“Nigeria is my country, and nobody needs to give me permission to belong here.”

That is the Nigeria we should be building.

Your Eminence, traditional and religious leaders occupy a unique position in Nigerian society.

Political leaders come and go.
Governments change.
Political parties rise and fall.
But institutions such as the Sultanate carry historical memory.
That gives your words a different weight.

When a politician speaks about religion, Nigerians may suspect political calculation but when a respected religious leader speaks about coexistence, citizenship and national unity, the message can carry a moral authority that politics often cannot achieve.

This is why I believe the Sultanate has an extraordinary opportunity.

Not merely to speak for Muslims, But to speak to Nigeria.
To say clearly that the greatness of Islam in Nigeria does not require the political diminishment of Christianity. And equally, that the flourishing of Christianity in Nigeria does not require the political diminishment of Islam.

The strength of one faith should not require the weakness of another.

The security of one community should not depend upon the insecurity of another.

And the political advancement of one Nigerian should never require the political humiliation of another Nigerian simply because of religion.

WE SHOULD MOVE BEYOND THE COMPETITION FOR RELIGIOUS OWNERSHIP OF NIGERIA

There is a dangerous psychological temptation in deeply divided societies.

Each community begins to measure its security by the amount of power the other community possesses.

Then politics becomes a permanent struggle for religious arithmetic.

Who has the President?
Who has the Vice President?
Who controls the security institutions?
Who appoints judges?
Who controls the legislature?
Who controls the governors?
Who controls the economy?
And eventually, citizens stop asking the most important question:
Does the country work for everyone?

That is where we must break the cycle.

Nigeria cannot become great by producing a permanent contest between Muslim political power and Christian political power.

It can become great when both communities begin demanding something larger:

competent political power exercised for the common good.

The ultimate measure of political leadership should not be the religion of the person holding office.

It should be the quality of governance, the protection of citizens, the fairness of institutions, the security of communities and the opportunity available to every Nigerian.

PERHAPS OUR GREATEST NATIONAL TEST IS NOT RELIGIOUS DOMINANCE—BUT MUTUAL TRUST

Your Eminence, I believe Nigeria’s deepest problem is not simply that Muslims distrust Christians or Christians distrust Muslims.

It is that decades of political competition, violence, injustice, insecurity, corruption and unequal experiences of citizenship have created an enormous deficit of trust.

Religious suspicion is often the language through which that distrust expresses itself.

Therefore, if we want to defeat religious tension, we must do more than preach tolerance.

We must build institutions that make tolerance unnecessary as a condition of citizenship.

A Nigerian should not need to be tolerated.
He should simply be equal.
A Christian should not need a Muslim’s permission to belong.
A Muslim should not need a Christian’s permission to belong.

Our common citizenship should be the foundation upon which our religious differences are accommodated—not the other way around.

Your Eminence, I respectfully propose that Nigeria’s most respected Muslim and Christian leaders begin a different kind of conversation.

Not another conference where speeches are made and photographs taken.

But a serious national dialogue around five questions:

  1. What does equal citizenship actually mean in Nigeria?
  2. How should religious diversity influence political representation without becoming a mechanism for religious entitlement?
  3. How do we distinguish legitimate political strategy from symbolism that creates unnecessary fear or exclusion?
  4. How can traditional and religious institutions help rebuild trust between communities?
  5. What constitutional, institutional and political reforms are necessary to ensure that no Nigerian believes the country belongs more to another citizen than to himself?

These are difficult questions. But perhaps Nigeria has spent too many decades avoiding difficult questions because they are uncomfortable. And perhaps the price of that avoidance is becoming too high.

Your Eminence, history gives leaders a choice.
Every generation inherits history. But every generation also decides what to do with it.
We can use history as a weapon or wisdom

We can teach our children that Nigeria is a battlefield between religious communities.
Or we can teach them that Muslims and Christians inherited a complicated country together and have the responsibility to make it work together.

We can continue competing over who has the greater historical claim.

Or we can build a country where historical claims do not determine the value of a citizen.

I respectfully believe the latter is worthy of the office you occupy.

The greatest legacy of a historical institution is not merely that it preserves the memory of what once was.

It is that it helps a nation decide what it can become.

My final appeal Your Eminence, I do not ask you to abandon Islam.

I ask you to help Nigerians understand that Islam does not need Nigeria to belong exclusively to Muslims for Muslims to belong completely to Nigeria.

And I would say the same to Christian leaders:

Christianity does not need Nigeria to belong exclusively to Christians for Christians to belong completely to Nigeria.

The future must therefore be bigger than both arguments.

Nigeria must belong to Nigerians.

Not to Muslims.

Not to Christians.

Not to Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Tiv, Fulani, Igala, Idoma, Nupe, or any other ethnic nationality.

Not to the North.

Not to the South.

Not to one historical institution.

To all of us.

That, in my humble view, is the foundation upon which a truly united Nigeria can eventually be built.

I respectfully submit this thought to Your Eminence—not as an accusation, but as an invitation to a deeper national conversation.

May our religious differences become a source of moral strength rather than political division.

May our history become a source of wisdom rather than entitlement.

May our political differences never become a justification for denying one another’s citizenship.

And may the Nigeria we leave our children be a country in which neither Muslim nor Christian ever has to ask:

“Does this country belong to me?”
Because the answer should always be:

“Yes. It is your country too.”

With profound respect,

Dr. Mike Achadu
A Nigerian Citizen

POVERTY, REFORM AND THE PROBLEM OF CAUSATION

What the evidence says about hardship, recovery and the road ahead
By Tanimu Yakubu, Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation
The argument should begin where Nigerians live
Any serious discussion of the reforms must begin with what Nigerians can see and feel. Food is expensive. Transport takes a larger share of income. Electricity, rent and school bills press harder on household budgets. For many families, the question is not whether an economic indicator has improved. The question is whether their money can still carry them through the month.
That hardship is real, and we should say so without hesitation. But hardship by itself does not tell us what caused it, nor does it tell us whether reversing the reforms would make the country better off. Those are separate questions, and they require evidence rather than anger or reassurance.
The PUNCH report of 16 July 2026 presents poverty as persisting ‘despite reforms’. The phrase is striking, but it compresses several different issues into one. The World Bank and IMF material cited around the same debate records both a deeply vulnerable population and an economy that has returned to stronger real growth, built larger external buffers and moved away from some of the distortions that had accumulated before 2023.[1][2][3][4] The fair reading is therefore not that hardship has vanished, nor that reform has achieved nothing. It is that economic repair has begun while household relief has lagged behind.
A poverty crisis that did not begin in 2023
Nigeria did not enter May 2023 from a position of broad prosperity. Growth per person had been weak for years. Foreign exchange was scarce. Multiple exchange rates encouraged arbitrage. Fuel subsidy costs absorbed public resources. Insecurity kept farmers away from parts of the land. Electricity remained unreliable, transport was costly and too few Nigerians held secure formal jobs.[2] Poverty and vulnerability were already widespread before the present reform programme began.
That history is important because causation matters. A poverty problem built over many years cannot reasonably be attributed in full to policies introduced three years ago. But history cannot become an alibi. The exchange-rate adjustment and fuel-subsidy removal imposed immediate costs on people who had little room to absorb them. Imported goods and inputs became more expensive. Transport costs rose. Inflation eroded wages and savings. Those consequences belong in any honest account of the reforms.
We do not strengthen our case by appearing to argue that suffering is merely inherited. We strengthen it by acknowledging that necessary reforms have had painful consequences and then showing, with evidence, how our policies are reducing those consequences.
What the 79 per cent figure does — and does not — mean
The widely quoted figure that 79 per cent of Nigerians are poor or vulnerable is serious, but it needs to be read correctly. The World Bank’s Streamlined Country Diagnostic distinguishes those already below the poverty line from those who are near-poor or vulnerable to falling below it.[1][2] The number therefore describes a broad zone of insecurity, not a single poverty headcount in which every person is in the same condition.
The distinction does not soften the warning. A household only slightly above a poverty line can be pushed below it by a failed harvest, a medical bill, the loss of a job or another rise in food prices. What the figure shows is how narrow the margin of safety is for millions of Nigerians. It should not, however, be turned into proof that the reforms created a poverty stock that plainly predates them.
The economy has not collapsed, but households are still waiting
World Bank data show real GDP growth of about 4.0 per cent in 2025. The IMF estimated the same rate for 2025 and projected about 4.1 per cent for 2026. Gross international reserves were around US$46 billion at the end of 2025, up from about US$40 billion a year earlier, while net reserves also improved.[3][4] These figures are not a substitute for household welfare, but they are evidence against the claim that the economy has simply collapsed under reform.
The fall in GDP measured in current United States dollars also needs care. A sharp depreciation of the naira reduces the dollar value of naira output even when the volume of goods and services produced is rising. World Bank data can therefore show positive real growth alongside a lower current-dollar GDP.[3] The depreciation has real costs: imported inputs become more expensive and the external value of domestic incomes falls. But it is analytically wrong to treat a translation effect as if it were an equal fall in physical production.
None of this should be presented triumphantly. Nigerians do not eat reserves. A better fiscal balance does not put rice on a table by itself. The value of stabilisation lies in what it permits next: investment, production, employment, lower inflation and better public services.
Relief will come from making more things and moving them more cheaply
The most convincing answer to hardship will not come from another speech about macroeconomic stability. It will come when the supply of food, energy, transport and industrial inputs improves enough to lower costs in everyday life. That is where several large projects now approaching important stages become relevant.
The Kano-Jigawa-Katsina-Maradi railway is one example. We reported in May 2026 that the project was about 60 per cent complete, with delivery targeted for the end of 2027.[5] Its relevance is practical. Northern farmers and traders move large volumes over long distances on roads that are expensive to maintain and slow to use. A working freight corridor can lower haulage costs, widen markets for agricultural produce and improve trade through the northern border. The benefit of the railway will not be the number of kilometres of track. It will be the saving that eventually appears in the cost of moving grain, livestock, fertiliser and manufactured goods.
Lagos shows the same principle in urban transport. The first phases of the Blue and Red Lines are already carrying passengers while extensions continue.[6] For a commuter, the value of mass transit is measured in time, predictability and the share of income spent getting to work. For business, it is measured in a city that moves people with less dependence on road congestion and fuel-intensive transport. That is how infrastructure becomes an alleviative measure rather than a monument.
The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline can have an even wider industrial effect. NNPC’s May 2026 report placed the mainline in advanced construction, installation and pre-commissioning, with early gas delivery to Abuja targeted in 2026.[7] Northern industry has long paid heavily for unreliable energy. Gas delivered into the corridor can support power generation and manufacturing, reduce dependence on expensive self-generation and make new investment more viable. The public will judge the pipeline not by its diameter, but by the factories it helps to run, the jobs it supports and the costs it helps to bring down.
Fertiliser shows what supply reform can mean on the farm
The fertiliser story is closer to the next harvest. Under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, more than 449,000 metric tonnes of inputs had been secured by May 2026, and we were on course for a 1.1 million metric tonne programme – roughly 22 million bags – supported by more than 90 operational blending plants.[8]
For years, the problem was not merely the existence of blending plants. A plant without raw materials is an idle factory. Information available to us indicates that, under the previous administration, some plants could secure enough raw materials for only about three months of production. We have moved to secure raw materials on a basis intended to sustain blending through the year. That change is important because it turns installed capacity into actual supply.
The difference is easy to understand. A plant that works for three months produces little and carries high unit costs. A plant supplied through the year can produce more, spread its costs over a larger volume and compete in a market with less scarcity. As availability rises, scarcity pricing becomes harder to sustain. Farmers gain better access to fertiliser when they need it, yields can improve, and the resulting increase in food supply should place downward pressure on prices in 2027.
The effect will not occur by proclamation. Fertiliser must reach farmers, crops must be planted, fields must be secured, harvests must be moved and markets must remain competitive. But this is a visible chain of cause and effect, and it is a stronger basis for expecting lower food prices than administrative price controls.
Rice mills: feed the mills, not the import market
The same supply argument applies to rice. About 300 rice mills are struggling, not because Nigeria lacks milling capacity, but because too many of them cannot obtain enough paddy to run steadily. When a mill operates below capacity, workers lose shifts, fixed costs are spread over fewer tonnes, farmers lose a dependable buyer and the price advantage of domestic processing is weakened. Importing finished parboiled rice may appear to close a supply gap quickly, but it also transfers the milling, transport, handling and much of the value added to producers outside Nigeria.
Our intervention should therefore address the shortage at its source. We need to stimulate local paddy production while permitting the importation of the raw-material shortfall where domestic supply is temporarily inadequate. The purpose of such imports would be to keep Nigerian mills running, not to displace them. As local output rises, the imported component should fall. That approach protects consumers from scarcity while preserving demand for Nigerian paddy and creating a stronger incentive for farmers to expand production.
For rural households, this distinction is consequential. A bag of finished rice imported into Nigeria creates little income for a farmer in Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Taraba or Ebonyi. Paddy supplied to a Nigerian mill does. It supports cultivation, aggregation, haulage, milling, packaging and distribution before the rice reaches the market. Keeping the roughly 300 mills supplied therefore attacks food scarcity and rural poverty at the same time. It raises domestic value added, strengthens the market available to farmers and retains more of every naira spent on rice within the Nigerian economy.
The objective is not permanent dependence on imported paddy. It is to prevent idle domestic capacity while we close the production gap. The durable answer remains higher yields, more irrigated cultivation, improved seed, fertiliser, extension services, secure farming communities and reliable links between growers and mills. But where a temporary shortfall exists, importing the missing raw material is economically preferable to importing the finished product and leaving Nigerian factories underused.
Security is also an economic policy
A farmer who cannot enter his field does not produce. A trader who fears the road moves less produce and charges more for risk. In this sense, the campaign against banditry is also a campaign against food inflation.
Security operations in 2026 restored access to a number of communities and allowed economic activity to resume in areas that had been badly disrupted.[10] It would be inaccurate to claim that banditry has disappeared from every affected area. The economic test is narrower and measurable: are more farmers returning to their land, are more hectares being cultivated, and is more produce reaching markets with fewer losses and delays?
Where the answer is yes, the effect should combine with better fertiliser availability. More cultivated land, higher input use and safer distribution can produce a larger harvest. If those gains hold through the 2026 farming cycle, consumers should begin to see more relief in food markets in 2027.
Why the alternative also has a cost
It is easy to compare the pain of reform with an imagined version of the old system in which prices stayed low and no one paid the difference. That system did not exist. The difference appeared elsewhere: in subsidy bills, foreign-exchange shortages, parallel-market premiums, arrears, inflation and public resources that could not be spent on other needs.
The real choice is not between painful reform and painless continuity. It is between completing a difficult correction and returning to arrangements that had become increasingly expensive to finance and easier to exploit. That does not excuse poor implementation. It means that the answer to hardship is to improve the reform, protect vulnerable households and accelerate the supply response, not to rebuild the distortions that made correction unavoidable.
The test now is whether Nigerians can feel the change
We should not ask Nigerians to celebrate numbers they cannot yet feel. Our better argument is to show where the numbers lead. Stronger public finances must produce roads, power, schools, health care and productive investment. Better reserves and a more orderly foreign-exchange market must support confidence, investment and a more stable supply of essential goods. The reforms will be vindicated in the lives of Nigerians, not in the vocabulary used to describe them.
These are not slogans. They are outcomes that can be checked. If fertiliser remains scarce despite year-round input supply, then our policy has not worked as intended. If rice mills remain idle for lack of paddy while finished parboiled rice is imported, we will have missed an opportunity to reduce scarcity through Nigerian production and rural incomes. If secured communities do not return to cultivation, the economic benefit has not been realised. If new rail and gas infrastructure do not reduce costs or expand productive activity, completion alone will not be enough. We must therefore measure success by what these interventions do to production, prices, jobs and household welfare.
Nigeria’s poverty crisis is older than the present reforms. Our reforms have nevertheless imposed real costs on households that were already under strain. Both facts can be true at the same time. The evidence also shows that real output has grown, external buffers have improved and important constraints on production are being addressed. Our responsibility now is to convert those gains into relief that is visible in markets, incomes and public services.
That is where the debate should end and our work should begin: not with a claim that hardship has disappeared, and not with the claim that reform has failed because hardship persists, but with a clear test. Are we producing more? Are we keeping our fertiliser plants and rice mills working? Are we moving goods more cheaply? Are farmers returning to their fields? Are factories operating for longer? Are families beginning to see prices ease and opportunities expand? Those are the questions by which Nigerians will judge us, and rightly so.
References

  1. Sami Tunji, “Poverty threatens 79% of Nigerians despite reforms – World Bank,” PUNCH, 16 July 2026.
  2. World Bank, Nigeria Country Partnership Framework FY2026–FY2032 and accompanying Streamlined Country Diagnostic, 2026.
  3. World Bank, World Development Indicators, Nigeria country data, including 2025 current-dollar GDP and real GDP growth; accessed August 2026.
  4. International Monetary Fund, Nigeria: 2026 Article IV Consultation — Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Nigeria, IMF Country Report No. 26/125, June 2026.
  5. State House, Abuja, “FG: Kano-Jigawa-Katsina to Maradi Railway Project 60 Percent Completed; Set for Delivery End of 2027,” 3 May 2026.
  6. Lagos State Government, official updates on Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue and Red Lines, including operational Phase I services; 2024–2025.
  7. NNPC Limited, Monthly Report Summary, May 2026: AKK mainline construction, installation and pre-commissioning activities, with early gas delivery to Abuja targeted in 2026.
  8. State House, Abuja, “President Tinubu Hails MOFI, NADF for Strengthening Nigeria’s Fertiliser Value Chain, Supporting Food Security,” 18 June 2026.
  9. Ministry of Finance Incorporated / PFI-NPK reporting on early 2026 procurement and distribution of fertiliser raw materials to registered blending plants, June 2026.
  10. Official security reporting on continuing operations against banditry and kidnapping and the restoration of access to affected communities, 2025–2026.

‎‎EYESAN: THE RETURN OF THE NATIVES

By Charles Abakpa

‎There are times when the choice of a leader matters as much as the institution itself. This is particularly true in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, where decisions taken by regulators can affect production, investment, government revenue and the wider economy. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan’s leadership of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is beginning to show what years of experience within the industry can bring to a critical national institution.
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‎Her emergence as the Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC can aptly be described as the return of the natives. This is because Eyesan has spent more than three decades working within Nigeria’s petroleum industry. She understands the system, its history, its challenges and, importantly, the expectations of operators and investors. She is therefore not learning the industry from the outside; she has been part of its growth and transformation for years.
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‎Eyesan studied Economics at the University of Benin and joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1992. From her early days as a material traffic officer, she moved through planning, commercial and executive responsibilities before becoming Executive Vice President, Upstream, at NNPC Limited. Her rise through the system is a reflection of experience gained over many years.
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‎That experience is now being brought to bear at the NUPRC, which has a major responsibility for regulating upstream petroleum operations in Nigeria. The commission oversees licensing, field development, technical compliance and other activities that determine how the country’s oil and gas resources are developed.
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‎One of the clearest indications of her approach is the transparent conduct of the 2025 oil and gas licensing round, where 31 companies have emerged successful for 37 oil and gas blocks, following the submission of 200 bids by 143 companies.
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‎The spread of interest in the blocks was equally significant. Bids were received for assets in established petroleum producing areas as well as frontier basins such as the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin. It showed that there is still considerable interest in Nigeria’s petroleum resources when investors have confidence in the rules and the process for allocating assets.
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‎Eyesan’s insistence on financial discipline is another important aspect of the licensing exercise. Winning a block, under the new approach, should not be the end of the process. Successful companies are expected to meet their financial obligations and demonstrate the capacity to develop the assets. The application of the “drill or drop” principle also discourages the practice of sitting on acreage without meaningful activity.
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‎Again, her experience in commercial negotiations has also prepared her for the responsibilities of the NUPRC. Before her present position, Eyesan was involved in major industry transactions, including Nigeria’s first natural gas liquids commercialisation and the renewal of deepwater production-sharing contracts. These were complex arrangements with significant implications for investment and production in the country.
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‎What appears to be driving her current agenda is straightforward: increase production, reduce losses and make the regulatory process work faster. Eyesan has identified shut-in production, declining output and delays in bringing projects on stream as areas that require urgent attention. Rather than waiting only for new discoveries, her strategy includes bringing economically viable existing assets back into production.
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‎She is also placing considerable emphasis on making regulation more predictable. The planned publication of service level agreements for major approvals, digital workflows for permits and reporting, and clearer timelines for regulatory decisions are aimed at reducing unnecessary delays. In an industry where delays can cost companies millions of dollars, faster and more predictable regulation can make a significant difference.
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‎Her engagement with industry operators is another part of the strategy. Through the CCE–Operators Leadership Forum, the commission is creating a regular channel for discussing production restoration, approval timelines, infrastructure integrity, gas development and other pressing issues. Eyesan has also stressed the importance of proper hydrocarbon accounting, with a clear message that every barrel produced should be properly accounted for.
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‎The 90-day programme introduced by the NUPRC under her watch is particularly important because it focuses on opportunities that can deliver results without unnecessary delay. Under the program, Field development plans that are near completion, well interventions, rig mobilisation and other quick win projects are being given attention. For a country working towards higher production levels, getting such projects moving can provide immediate gains.
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‎Most importantly, Eyesan’s agenda is not limited to crude oil. She has always spoken about safety, host community benefits, governance, data integrity and responsible operations. Her approach suggests that increasing production must go hand in hand with improving the systems through which the industry operates.
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‎There is also something significant about the emergence of Eyesan, another Nigerian woman at the centre of such an important national assignment. For decades, Nigerian women have shown that they can lead complex institutions and deliver results at home and internationally. Eyesan belongs to that tradition. Her performance inevitably brings to mind women such as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose career has demonstrated the capacity of Nigerian women to compete and excel at the highest levels.
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‎Of course, Eyesan has inherited an industry facing serious problems. Production has been constrained by insecurity, pipeline vandalism, ageing infrastructure, underinvestment and other longstanding challenges. But having someone with extensive institutional knowledge, commercial experience and a clear understanding of the upstream business gives the NUPRC a stronger hand in tackling these problems. Her presence has already been felt.
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‎Her performance so far suggests that the return of the natives may indeed be good news for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Abakpa wrote this piece from Owukpa, Benue State.

‎NYSC ORIENTATION CAMP: BETWEEN MYTH AND REALITY

By Toby Prince
‎
‎For many young Nigerians, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is surrounded by stories, assumptions and sometimes exaggerated tales. Before experiencing it personally, it is easy to form opinions about what the orientation camp will be like, especially when one is posted to a part of the country far away from home, with most of them leaving home for the first time.
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‎For one youth corps member from Ogun State, however, his journey to the NYSC Orientation Camp in Sokoto State turned out to be a lesson that challenged many of the perceptions he had carried about other parts of Nigeria.
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‎A graduate of the University of Ilorin who completed his studies in 2020, he arrived in Sokoto with the usual mixture of curiosity, uncertainty and expectations that accompany such a journey. Leaving Ogun State for Sokoto for the first time, meant travelling across a significant stretch of the country and entering an environment that was, in many aspects, different from what he had always known.
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‎But what he encountered in the orientation camp was not the experience he had imagined. Instead, he found a well organised environment where young Nigerians from different states, cultures, ethnic and religious backgrounds were brought together in one camp and treated as members of one family.
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‎From the moment he settled into camp, the level of organisation and care provided by the NYSC authorities left a lasting impression on him. The accommodation, meals, welfare arrangements and daily activities were handled with a sense of responsibility that made the experience considerably easier than he had anticipated.
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‎The meals, in particular, became part of the memorable experience. Whatever reservations he may have had before arriving were gradually replaced by appreciation as he saw the efforts made to provide food for hundreds of young people in camp. The sleeping arrangements, too, offered him a practical lesson in communal living. Sharing facilities with young Nigerians from different backgrounds created opportunities for interaction that would probably never have occurred outside the NYSC programme.
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‎And beyond the food and accommodation, the real value of the camp was the people. Young men and women who had never met before suddenly became colleagues, friends and sometimes lifelong acquaintances. Someone from Ogun could sit beside someone from Sokoto, Enugu, Rivers, Kaduna, Benue or another part of the country and discover that, despite differences in language, culture and upbringing, they had remarkably similar hopes for the future.
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‎That is where the deeper meaning of the NYSC begins. The scheme is much more than a compulsory period of national service. At its best, it is a practical experiment in national integration. It takes young Nigerians out of their familiar environments and gives them the opportunity to live, work and interact with people from other parts of the country.
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‎For this particular corps member, the experience in and outside of the NYSC camp in Sokoto changed something fundamental: his perspective. He came to appreciate that Nigeria cannot be understood fully from the narrow viewpoint of one’s immediate environment. The country is too diverse and too complex to be judged through hearsay, stereotypes or stories told from a distance.
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‎His time in Sokoto allowed him to see ordinary Nigerians beyond the labels that are sometimes attached to them. He encountered people willing to welcome him, share experiences with him and make him feel at home. What might have appeared strange before his journey gradually became familiar.
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‎Five years after his youth service, that experience remains fresh in his memory. He remains grateful to God for the opportunity to serve in Sokoto and, importantly, grateful to the founders of the NYSC Scheme for creating an institution that gives young Nigerians such opportunities.
He confessed that his journey to Sokoto was his first visit North of Nigeria. And he claimed honestly that before then his impression of the North was that of a region for only the Hausas.
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‎This is one of the great achievements of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) that is sometimes overlooked.
‎As a nation, we must understand that national unity cannot be built merely through speeches and official declarations. It is built when Nigerians meet Nigerians. It is strengthened when young people travel outside their states, live together, eat together, work together and discover one another as human beings. And the NYSC creates precisely that opportunity.
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‎The scheme teaches a young Nigerian graduate that the person from another state is not necessarily a stranger. It shows that cultural differences do not have to become barriers to friendship. It encourages tolerance, understanding and respect. It gives young Nigerians an opportunity to appreciate the richness of the country’s diversity rather than fear what they do not know.
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‎The Community Development Service (CDS) component also gives corps members the opportunity to contribute to the communities where they serve. Across the country, corps members have taught in schools, supported healthcare initiatives, participated in environmental programmes, assisted vulnerable people and contributed in various ways to community development. And for many young Nigerians, therefore, NYSC is the first major opportunity to serve people outside their immediate communities.
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‎That experience gathered during the scheme also shapes character. It teaches discipline, responsibility, adaptability and patience. It also exposes young graduates to realities that cannot be learned in the classroom.
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‎The Sokoto experience, for young graduate from Ogun State, is a reminder that, despite the challenges Nigeria faces, there are still institutions and experiences capable of bringing Nigerians together. The NYSC may not be perfect, and like every large national institution, it has areas that require continuous improvement. But its central idea remains remarkably relevant.
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‎A country as diverse as Nigeria needs platforms such as the NYSC to encourage its young people to know one another. The young graduate from Ogun who travelled to Sokoto in fulfilment of his national service returned with more than a certificate. He returned with memories, friendships and a broader understanding of Nigeria.
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‎Five years later, he can look back and say that the journey changed him. He went to Sokoto as a young Nigerian from Ogun State. He returned with a deeper appreciation of the fact that, regardless of where we come from, we are all part of the same country.
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‎Perhaps that is the greatest lesson of the NYSC: sometimes, the best way to understand Nigeria is to leave home and experience another part of it. And sometimes, what we discover there is not what we were told to expect. It is much better.
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‎For that reason, the NYSC remains one of Nigeria’s most important instruments of national integration, unity and cohesion, and one whose positive impact on generations of young Nigerians deserves to be recognised, protected and strengthened.
‎

Prince writes from Otukpo, Benue State.

Osun: Accord Party Chairmen files direct criminal complaints against Fadahunsi

With barely 48 hours to the Osun governorship election, the Chairman of Accord Party in the state, Pastor Victor Akande, on Thursday, filed direct criminal complaint against Senator Francis Fadahunsi.

Also, the direct Criminal Complaints were filed on behalf of the complainants by A. A Ahmed Esq., of the law firm of MT Adekilekun, SAN, – The Law Lounge

In the process he filed before the Osun State Magistrate Court, the Accord Chairman maintained that the lawmaker had sometime on August 11, during a rally organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC), seen in a video, issuing threats that could lead to violence and killing of members of the Accord Party in the state.

He told the court that the lawmaker specifically directed that any person seen with an Accord Party cap before the date of the election should be killed, “a direction that persons present at the rally were excited about and eager to carry out.”

He added that the lawmaker further directed that the video be widely circulated so that many more people would be aware of the directive.

The Accord Party Chairman insisted that Senator Fadahunsi’s statements amounted to uttering “seditious words, which has not only caused discontent and disaffection against the people of Osun State but has also promoted feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Osun State and Nigeria.”

He said: “Many of the complainant’s supporters and other Accord Party have seen the video and have become scared for their lives about the threat to their lives.

“The complainant’s supporters had vowed to also engage in attacks rather than sitting down idly and be attacked and intimidation.

“However, the complainant has succeeded in persuading his supporters to remain calm and allow the law to take its course.

“Since this threatening seditious publication made by the suspect, the complainant, being the number one Accord Party member in Osun State, his family and all, his supporters have been living in fear. and apprehension for their lives, they have been unable to go about their lawful businesses, canvass for votes and interface with the populace as they would ordinarily have done when an election of this magnitude is approaching.

“The ilfe of the complainant and all the Accord Party members are now in imminent danger as a result of conscious and direct threat from the suspect and if this complaint is not attended to with timeously, the suspect will carry out his barbaric threat in this modern democracy where rule of law is the order of the day.

“The video is attached to this complaint, while other material evidence will be made available during trial of this case.

“Based on the above, we humbly implore the Honourable court to invoke its inherent power to intervene in this case and bring the suspect to book so that his murderous threats will not be carried out and the damage already caused by the seditious words uttered by him will not be allowed to fester.

“Furthermore, the actions of the suspect are capable of further endangering the lives of the complainant and the Accord Members in the constituency and in Osun State at large.

“The intervention of this Honourable Court will also help in forestalling any possible reprisal attack from the members of Accord Party which might lead to the breakdown of law and order in Osun State.

“We urge you to use your good offices to deal with this complaint with dispatch,” the court process further read.

Aside from Senator Fadahunsi, a similar direct criminal complaint was also lodged against the House of Representatives candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Damilare Eniade, for allegedly inciting violence against Accord Party members.

A separate case was lodged against Eniade by the Chairman of Accord Party in Ilesa East Local Government of Osun State, Hon. Fatogun Seyi.

Both Senator Fadahunsi and the House of Reps candidate were accused of “uttering seditious words contrary to sections 50 and 51 of the Osun State Criminal Code.”

Resignation Without Consequence: How Nigeria’s Civil Servants Exploit Electoral Rules

Every election season in Nigeria brings with it familiar controversies: vote-buying, godfatherism, and the endless battles over electoral credibility. Yet beneath these headline-grabbing issues lies a quieter scandal that rarely receives the same attention but is no less corrosive to Nigeria’s democratic fabric. It is the curious case of civil servants who resign to contest elections, only to return to their government jobs after losing.This practice, subtle yet pervasive, undermines the neutrality of the civil service and turns resignation into a bureaucratic charade. It is a loophole that allows ambition to be tested without risk, creating a revolving door between politics and public service that ordinary Nigerians cannot access.The cycle is predictable. A civil servant employed in a ministry, agency, or legislative office catches the political bug. A seat in the Senate, the House of Representatives, or a state assembly beckons. By law, they must resign before contesting. Dutifully, they submit a resignation letter, step away from their desk, and launch into campaigning. Posters go up, rallies are held, promises are made. But when the ballots are counted and defeat arrives, many simply retrace their steps to their former offices. They request that their resignation be withdrawn or treated as if it never took effect. In many cases, the request is granted. Salaries resume, desks are reoccupied, and the civil service absorbs them back as though nothing happened.This revolving-door arrangement turns the civil service into a cushion for political risk. Ordinary Nigerians who gamble on politics without government jobs face real consequences: financial strain, career disruption, and uncertainty. Civil servants, by contrast, enjoy the comfort of knowing that their jobs await them if politics fails.Consider the case of Gospel Daniel Musa, a staff member of Nigeria’s National Assembly. In 2019, Musa resigned to contest for a Senate seat. He complied with the law, stepped away from his position, and entered the race. When the results came in and he was not declared winner, Musa did not remain outside the civil service to pursue other opportunities. Instead, he returned to the National Assembly and resumed his duties, continuing his career as though the political interlude had been a brief sabbatical. Musa’s case is emblematic of a broader culture in which resignation letters are treated as temporary paperwork rather than final acts.Nigeria’s legal framework is unambiguous. The Constitution and the Electoral Act require civil servants to resign, withdraw, or retire from public service before contesting elections. The requirement is not symbolic. It exists to preserve neutrality and prevent officers from using government resources to advance personal campaigns. Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 restates this principle, echoing earlier provisions such as Section 84(12) of the 2022 Act. State governments, including Kano, have issued circulars reminding civil servants of this obligation ahead of the 2027 elections. Courts have also clarified the distinction between civil servants and political appointees. Ministers and advisers, appointed at the pleasure of the president or governors, are not bound by the same resignation requirement. But career civil servants—those recruited, promoted, and pensionable within the system—must resign before contesting. A National Assembly staff member, like Musa, falls squarely into this category.The problem lies not in the clarity of the law but in its enforcement. In practice, resignation letters are often treated as reversible. If not fully processed, or if informal understandings exist with superiors, defeated aspirants can slip back into their roles. This undermines the spirit of the law. A resignation intended to be temporary is not a resignation at all—it is a calculated maneuver to safeguard one’s job while testing political waters. The civil service rules, in many documented cases, do not treat resignation to contest elections as irrevocable. Where a resignation has not been formally accepted and processed to finality, officers can return. This creates a culture of “resignation charades,” where compliance is performed but not enforced.The consequences are serious. The resignation requirement becomes a hollow ritual, undermining trust in the neutrality of the civil service. Civil servants enjoy the comfort of a guaranteed job if politics fails, while ordinary Nigerians face real consequences. Officers can leverage official networks and resources during campaigns, blurring the line between public duty and personal ambition. This revolving-door arrangement creates a two-tier system: one for career civil servants with safety nets, and another for ordinary citizens who risk everything to contest elections.Nigeria is not alone in grappling with this issue. In many democracies, civil servants are required to resign permanently before contesting elections. In the United States, the Hatch Act restricts federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity while employed. In India, civil servants must resign or retire before entering politics, with no option of reinstatement. In Ghana, similar rules exist to ensure neutrality, and resignation is treated as final. Nigeria’s practice of reversible resignation stands out as a loophole that undermines democratic safeguards.Several factors explain why this practice endures. Administrative bodies often fail to treat resignations as final. Officers and superiors sometimes collude to keep the door open for reinstatement. The public and political class often treat the practice as a harmless quirk rather than a serious breach. Reform requires political will, which is often lacking.Reforming this practice requires more than restating the law. It demands administrative and cultural change. Resignations submitted for political contests must be treated as irrevocable. Bodies like the Head of Service and the National Assembly Service Commission must close loopholes that allow reinstatement. The public and political class must stop treating reversible resignation as harmless and recognize it as a subversion of democratic safeguards. Clear records of resignations and reinstatements should be maintained and made public.Nigeria’s civil service is meant to be a neutral institution, serving whichever government the people elect. But when officers resign to contest elections and return after losing, neutrality is compromised. The practice erodes credibility, creates unfair advantages, and undermines democratic safeguards. Reform is possible. By treating resignations as final, enforcing administrative rules, and shifting cultural attitudes, Nigeria can strengthen the integrity of its civil service. The revolving door must be closed if the civil service is to remain a true guardian of neutrality in Nigeria’s democracy.

Hon. Hafiz Kawu Calls for Unity, Highlights Tinubu and Governor Yusuf’s Achievements in Kano

Hon. Hafiz Kawu, Honourable Commissioner at PENCOM, has urged APC supporters and faithfuls in Kano State to rally behind the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf. Speaking live during a radio program in Kano, Hon. Kawu OON, MNI delivered a compelling message of reconciliation and renewed commitment to the ruling party’s vision for development.

In his remarks, Hon. Kawu emphasized the importance of President Tinubu’s administration to Kano’s progress, pointing to several landmark projects that have reshaped the state’s infrastructure and economic outlook. He cited the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Expressway reconstruction and the dualization of the Kano–Kongolom Road as evidence of federal commitment to easing transportation and boosting trade. He also highlighted the modernization of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport and the approval of the Kano Light Rail project as transformative investments in transportation.

Hon. Kawu further pointed to the AKK Gas Pipeline as a strategic investment that will power industries, create jobs, and strengthen Kano’s role as a commercial hub. He noted that the appointments of Kano indigenes into key federal positions demonstrate the President’s recognition of Kano’s strategic importance in national politics.

Turning to state-level initiatives, Hon. Kawu praised Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s urban renewal and rural connectivity projects, including the construction of the Dan Agundi Interchange, the Tal’udu Cloverleaf Overpass, and the revival of 5KM roads across 44 local governments. He described these projects as complementary to federal efforts, ensuring that both urban and rural communities benefit from development.

Addressing internal party divisions, Hon. Kawu noted: “This is the time to set aside differences and return to the fold. The projects we see today are only the beginning of greater things to come under APC leadership. Unity is the key to victory, and victory is the key to sustaining development.”

His live radio broadcast blended detailed references to federal achievements under President Tinubu with state-level initiatives under Governor Yusuf, leaving listeners with a clear message: Kano’s future is tied to APC’s success, and every supporter has a role to play in securing that future.

As the broadcast concluded, Hon. Kawu emphasized that cohesion across the APC structure remains the decisive factor in the political contest ahead. He stressed that only a united APC — working seamlessly from the grassroots to the national stage — can secure victories across all levels of governance and sustain the momentum of development. His words positioned unity not as a plea, but as a strategic imperative for the party’s continued dominance and for the progress of Kano and Nigeria at large.

Chinese robots expand global reach through diverse applications 

By Ouyang Jie, Liu Junguo, People’s Daily

From factories and power plants to warehouses and emergency response sites, Chinese-made robots are increasingly being deployed across a wide range of applications worldwide. 

This expansion reflects not only the rapid growth of China’s robotics industry but also the ability of Chinese companies to develop products tailored to diverse market needs, improve service capabilities, and build localized operations overseas. 

At the assembly workshop of Pudu Robotics, a Chinese service robotics manufacturer located in Jianhu county, east China’s Jiangsu province, five production lines were running at full capacity for 10 hours. 

Workers at assembly stations were installing new batches of lidar modules into robot bodies. The company’s production schedule has already fully booked through 2027, with factory production plans significantly tighter than last year.

Founded in 2016, Pudu Robotics has focused on the global commercial service robot market. It has shipped more than 130,000 units and served over 50,000 end customers worldwide. 

Since the beginning of this year, the company’s exports have already exceeded the total volume of the previous year, with products sold to 85 countries and regions. Its cleaning robots, in particular, have maintained year-on-year export growth of more than 100 percent for consecutive years, accounting for 29 percent of the global commercial cleaning robot market.

Pudu Robotics is just one example of Chinese intelligent robot companies expanding into overseas markets. According to customs data from Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, exports of various types of robots from Shenzhen reached 6.94 billion yuan ($1.03 billion) in the first half of this year, representing a tenfold increase year-on-year. These products were shipped to more than 110 countries and regions.

Strong technological capabilities are at the core of the global competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing.

“Our quadruped robots have officially started operations at a nuclear power plant in Switzerland, carrying out frequent and routine autonomous inspections in high-risk areas,” said Yao Hengyan, assistant general manager of DEEP Robotics in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province.

The robot can climb slopes as steep as 45 degrees, navigate narrow spaces between equipment and access areas that are difficult for humans to reach. Equipped with thermal imaging and acoustic sensors, it can accurately detect potential hazards such as leaks, abnormal temperatures, and unusual equipment noises. 

Inspection data is uploaded in real time to a digital management platform, which can automatically issue alerts and initiate responses once anomalies are detected.

Besides, the quadruped robots of the company are also used for factory security and underground pipeline inspection in Switzerland.

A diverse product portfolio has enabled Chinese robots to adapt to a broad range of global application scenarios.

Pudu Robotics has divided the market into 16 major industries and more than 800 categories of specific applications and tasks based on customer needs, said Zhang Tao, founder and CEO of the company. The company has continuously optimized the overall performance of its products to ensure they are “functional, user-friendly, and durable” in complex environments.

It has established four major product lines covering delivery, cleaning, industrial, and general-purpose embodied intelligence robots, with applications spanning multiple sectors, including manufacturing and warehousing logistics.

The successful deployment of DEEP Robotics’ quadruped robots at a Swiss nuclear power plant, where safety standards are extremely demanding, demonstrates the stability and reliability of China-made robots, Yao said. 

The company has reached an agreement with its Swiss client to expand cooperation, and its robots, which can adapt to complex terrain and extreme weather conditions, have already been deployed in energy, industrial, and emergency response scenarios in various parts of the world.

As they continue to explore overseas markets, many Chinese robotics companies are shifting from simply exporting products to building localized brands and service networks.

Competition in China’s service robot sector has moved beyond price-performance advantages and entered a new stage where quality, brand recognition, and service capabilities are equally important, Zhang said. Customers are looking for not just a machine, but a comprehensive solution that can operate reliably over the long term.

To meet these needs, Pudu Robotics has established local offices and service centers in major global markets and built a cooperation network involving more than 1,000 distributors. The network provides partners with full-process support, including pre-sales consultation, sales assistance, deployment, after-sales maintenance, and rapid spare parts response, helping customers overcome concerns about adopting complex technologies.

The current penetration of robots remains relatively low, leaving broad room for future growth, Zhang said. As robots become increasingly integrated into various industries, different application scenarios will require different types of robots and capabilities. The company hopes to develop a unified “intelligent brain” for robots that can empower various products in fields such as delivery, cleaning, and industrial applications.

Pudu Robotics will continue expanding investment in technological innovation and product upgrades, making robots increasingly intelligent and capable of serving more industries worldwide, Zhang added.

Wuxi’s “Token Supermarket”: A one-stop AI model platform for local businesses

By Yao Xueqing, People’s Daily

When Li Tao, the software department supervisor at Sevice — a security technology company based in Jiangsu — opened Wuxi’s AI industry service platform, he navigated straight to the “Token Supermarket” on the homepage. He logged into his account to check usage metrics and his remaining balance.

Li’s company specializes in intelligent security, with software development as its core business. “Since last year, AI has handled 85 percent of our software development workflows,” Li said. The company needs to purchase tokens from various large language model platforms, with fees calculated based on usage.

Initially, the company’s demand for tokens was limited, and the cost was almost negligible. But as computing needs grew rapidly, monthly expenses increased. Different large models have different capabilities and applications, Li said. Companies not only have to cope with rising costs, but also manage and maintain multiple accounts and switch between different models, he added.

In May this year, Wuxi rolled out this city-level “Token Supermarket.” Li Tao visited the platform the very day it went live. Lined up on its virtual “shelves” were over 20 mainstream large models, covering nearly all those widely adopted by enterprises.

Thanks to the platform’s centralized procurement, most offerings are available at favorable rates. Even more convenient, users need only a single registered account to call upon different large models on demand.

The company immediately decided to register with the “Token Supermarket” and top up its account. Li did the math: with a monthly recharge of 20,000 yuan ($2,963), more than 30 engineers can use 4 billion to 5 billion tokens. The complimentary concurrent-access benefit package has also enabled more than 30 employees to work efficiently in parallel.

As a result, the company has cut research and development costs by nearly 30 percent, shortened software development cycles from two weeks to less than one week, and increased efficiency by 50 percent.

Why did Wuxi launch such a “Token Supermarket,” and what makes it unique?

According to Zhu Yiqing, deputy general manager of Wuxi Digital New Infrastructure Co., Ltd., which operates the platform, token usage is growing rapidly, but companies still face challenges such as high costs, complicated management of multiple AI model accounts and difficulties in calculating expenses.The “Token Supermarket” was developed to provide a one-stop purchasing platform and has already served more than 50 enterprises.

Its customers include not only companies like Li’s that purchase tokens to assist with daily office work, but also many enterprises that buy tokens as “bulk raw materials” for further processing and development.

Dramasmaker, a startup developing AI-powered animated storytelling production tools, is one such customer. The company was founded in August last year and spent more than six months independently developing a one-stop animation production system, which entered the testing and production phase in May of this year, said general manager Wei Jianfei.

The company needs to purchase large amounts of tokens, resulting in high costs. During the early startup stage, this placed considerable pressure on its cash flow, Wei said.

Zhu noted that the “Token Supermarket” can also be connected with financial services, with financial products to be integrated into the platform’s payment system.

Notably, staff members of the “Token Supermarket” are currently sprucing up its virtual premises: alongside an existing “brand zone,” a new “local-source offerings zone” has been rolled out.

According to Zhu, Wuxi’s computing-power industry is developing rapidly, with 19 intelligent computing centers now up and running, most of which deliver computing power for immediate sale. 

Tokens generated by these intelligent computing centers are listed on the “Token Supermarket,” bringing cost-competitive options for users. The platform also bolsters the local computing-power sector while serving small and medium-sized enterprises.

China, US need ‘cooperation list’, not ‘Covered List’ 

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily

Recently, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added foreign-produced power inverters and advanced robotics to its so-called “Covered List.” As a result, new models of these products will be denied certification authorization and prohibited from entering the U.S. market. 

Though presented under the guise of “non-discrimination” or “national security”, these measures are in essence discriminatory treatment and suppression targeting Chinese companies and products. They represent a typical act of unilateral bullying and a clear distortion of market principles and fair competition.

For some time, the FCC has repeatedly abused the concept of national security to introduce and expand restrictive measures. These actions have not only seriously undermined China’s legitimate trade rights and interests, but also weakened the foundation of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation, disrupting the stability of global industrial and supply chains.

Using the so-called “Covered List” as a tool for targeted containment has become a recurring tactic of the FCC. Back in 2021, invoking “national security” as a pretext, the agency added telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from five Chinese companies to the list, setting a harmful precedent for the misuse of regulatory instruments.

Since then, the U.S. has continuously rolled out restrictive rules and expanded the scope of suppression, with products such as drones and routers subsequently brought under control. 

In April this year, the FCC approved further measures to revoke the qualifications of testing and certification bodies from countries that have not signed “mutual recognition agreements” with the U.S., artificially raising compliance barriers for Chinese products. 

By extending restrictions into areas such as new energy and advanced intelligent manufacturing, the latest move has further exposed the U.S. intention to contain China’s technological and industrial development.

These U.S. actions run counter to the current momentum of stabilizing and improving China-U.S. relations. 

Over the past year, guided by the strategic direction set by the presidents of the two countries, economic and trade teams from the two sides have maintained pragmatic communication and achieved positive progress. This has injected valuable certainty into bilateral economic and trade cooperation and global economic recovery. 

In May of this year, the two presidents jointly agreed to build a constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability, charting the course for future bilateral ties. All sectors on both sides should work in the same direction.

China has always maintianed that major-country competition is nothing new, but China-U.S. relations should not be defined by competition. When competition does occur, it should be healthy — where the two sides learn from each other, pursue excellence together, and compete fairly within established rules. 

What the two sides should be expanding is a “cooperation list” that delivers mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, not a so-called “Covered List” designed to impose artificial restrictions.

The root cause of the U.S.’ repeated efforts to build walls and erect barriers lies in a zero-sum mentality and growing anxiety over competition with China. Faced with the rising global competitiveness of China’s new energy equipment and advanced intelligent manufacturing industries, some in the U.S. are not focusing on how to enhance their own competitiveness and gain development advantages through fair competition. Instead, they are bent on erecting barriers and attempting to slow the development of others.

Both the past and the present have repeatedly shown that protectionism is never the right path to development, and administrative barriers cannot halt the advance of industrial and technological progress. 

Forcing “decoupling and severing supply chains” and building “small yards, high fences” will not stop the upgrading of China’s industries and technologies. Instead, such moves will accelerate the diversification of global industrial and supply chains, ultimately undermining U.S. economic vitality and technological competitiveness. 

Many observers have long pointed out that prioritizing administrative barriers over market principles and industrial competitiveness amounts to building an inefficient “greenhouse” for domestic industries. This will, in the end, erode U.S. firms’ incentive to innovate, leaving consumers saddled with the dual burden of inflated prices and lagging-edge technologies.

From a broader global perspective, the U.S. approach also runs counter to the broader trend of economic globalization. Today’s economies are deeply interconnected, and global industrial divisions of labor are highly complementary. The formation and development of global industrial and supply chains are an inevitable result of market forces and an important opportunity for countries to pursue shared development. 

Power inverters and advanced robotics are essential products supporting the global green transition and the upgrading of intelligent manufacturing. Free trade and technological cooperation benefit countries worldwide.

By artificially fragmenting markets and erecting technological barriers, the U.S. is not only increasing the operating costs of global industrial and supply chains, undermining global industrial cooperation and the ecosystem for technological innovation, but also hampering the progress of the green transition and intelligent industry development worldwide, to the detriment of the common interests of all countries.

Protectionism cannot enhance competitiveness, and building walls and barriers cannot bring security. China urges the U.S. to heed the calls of industries in both countries, respect the laws of the market economy and the principle of fair competition, immediately correct its wrong practices, and remove the relevant discriminatory restrictive measures. If the U.S. persists in going down the wrong path, China will take resolute countermeasures.

China hopes that the U.S. will earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, abandon the zero-sum mentality, return to a rational and pragmatic approach, work together with China, and promote the sound and stable development of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation. This will help inject more positive energy into the building of a constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)