Author: The North Journals

By Bagudu Mohammed Last week, the News Agency of Nigeria reported that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control had commenced enforcement of the long-debated ban on the production and sale of alcohol packaged in sachets and small bottles below 200 millilitres. According to the report, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, made this disclosure during a media parley in Lagos, explaining that the move followed a directive of the Senate. Although the agency had announced as far back as November 2025 that enforcement would begin by December, the process was briefly halted after the Federal…

My attention has been drawn to the selective outrage and hypocrisy that many people, as usual, have deployed in judging the defection of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano. His action is being portrayed as a moral lapse and even a “betrayal,” based on the premise that he has disappointed someone who once supported him. However, a closer look at those promoting this perspective reveals that such reactions largely come from individuals who harbor deep resentment toward the APC and sympathy for the opposition. The so-called sin of Abba Yusuf might have been more easily tolerated had he defected to the…

By Moses Amos Hector Ruiz Arroyo, chief executive officer of HRJ Sport Management, has completed the transfer of Nigerian international Salim Fago Lawal to Czech top-flight club Viktoria Plzeň. Mr Ruiz Arroyo, a Spain-based FIFA-licensed football agent, facilitated the move from Croatian side NK Istra 1961, with the highly rated centre-forward signing a three-year contract with the Czech champions. The transfer represents a significant step in Lawal’s professional career, providing him with the opportunity to compete at the highest level of Czech football and gain further exposure on the European stage. Lawal arrives in Plzeň with notable international experience, having…

By Moses Amos Matthias Anwana Gangl, owner and chief executive officer of OneUp Football Agency, has facilitated the transfer of midfielder Larissa Rusek from Germany’s 1. FC Nürnberg Women to Juventus Women Football Club, following the player’s impressive half-season in the Frauen-Bundesliga. Mr Gangl, an Austria-based attorney and FIFA-licensed football agent, oversaw the move after Rusek’s consistent performances in Germany drew interest from several European clubs. The transfer to Juventus Women marks a significant step in Rusek’s career, placing her among Europe’s elite women’s football teams and offering opportunities to compete for both domestic and continental honours. Industry observers say…

By Aminu Adamu As educators grapple with declining reading engagement among secondary school students, a grassroots literacy organisation is testing a practical, low-cost response: embedding open-access book clubs directly within schools and supporting them with sustained mentorship. This week, Bookish Alchemy launched its 2026 outreach programme by establishing book clubs at UMRABS and Aisha Academy School in Zaria. The intervention has reached over 600 students, many of whom voluntarily enrolled during the first week, an early indicator of unmet demand for structured reading spaces. Schools across northern Nigeria face shrinking reading cultures driven by limited access to books, weak extracurricular…

Diaries | The North Journals | On a dry morning in Kaduna in the late 1950s, Sir Ahmadu Bello stood at the centre of a region that was already slipping into history. The Northern Region, vast, anxious, uneven—was awakening to the fact that independence was no longer a distant promise but an approaching reckoning. Power was shifting. Old bargains were expiring. New fears were forming. Bello understood this better than most. He also understood something else: that leadership, in moments like this, was less about ambition than about containment. Long before he became the most powerful politician in Nigeria, Ahmadu…

[REVISED STORY] By Tse Tse Tuk, Aminu Adamu Originally Published: January 23, 2026 (Updated: February 20, 2026) On Saturday, 13 September 2025, Nigeria’s national electricity grid suffered another disruption after a forced outage on the Aba–Itu 132kV Single Circuit transmission line cut bulk power supply to Akwa Ibom State and parts of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) network. The incident plunged Uyo, Eket, Itu and surrounding communities into darkness within minutes. Authorities described the event as a “system disturbance.” However, documents and petitions seen by The North Journals suggest the outage may be linked to alleged procurement irregularities…

By Aminu Adamu Ahmed Peace and Conflict Studies, Modibbo Adama University, Yola A peace studies lecture in Yola connects classroom theory with the lived reality of conflict in Lamurde, Adamawa State. When Professor M. I. Gambo addressed students at the Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University, Yola, his message was both unsettling and clarifying. Conflict, he said, is unavoidable wherever human beings coexist. What determines the survival of a society is not the absence of conflict, but its capacity to understand, manage and resolve it. For many students in the lecture hall, the discussion was academic. For…

By The North Journals Sport Desk In a final characterized by unprecedented drama including a protest walk-off and a high-stakes penalty miss Senegal silenced the home crowd in Rabat. Pape Gueye’s 94th-minute goal proved the difference as the Teranga Lions proved their mettle as the new giants of African football. In a final defined by high-octane drama, a temporary pitch walk-off, and a missed “Panenka” penalty, the Teranga Lions of Senegal emerged as the kings of African football on Sunday night. A thunderous extra-time strike from Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye was enough to secure a 1-0 victory over hosts Morocco…

By Tse Tse Tuk, Aminu Adamu A legal dispute is escalating between Nigeria and the United Kingdom after Jupiter Lithium Limited, a UK-based mining firm, initiated international arbitration against the Federal Republic of Nigeria over the collapse of a major lithium project in Kaduna State. Information that surfaced in late 2025 shows that Jupiter Lithium has filed a case at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank-affiliated tribunal that resolves disputes between foreign investors and sovereign states. The case, registered on December 1, 2025, is listed as Jupiter Lithium Limited v. Federal Republic of Nigeria…