News
65 Nigerians sponsored by CCECC to China return with degrees

65 Nigerians sponsored by CCECC to China return with degrees
… To be deployed in Nigeria’s transport sector
By: Michael Mike
Sixty-five Nigerians sponsored by the CCECC Nigeria Limited to study at Chinese universities have returned to the country after graduation to contribute to the development of the transport sector.
The programme is a joint effort between CCECC Nigeria Limited, and two Chinese ivory tower, Central South University and Chang’an University.
The latest graduates make it 197 Nigerians that have benefitted from the sponsorship that commenced few years back.
Among the returned 65 students are 49 undergraduates and 16 postgraduates, majoring in Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Road, Bridge, and River-crossing Engineering, amongst others.
They were received at a colourful ceremony held at the CCECC Nigeria Limited headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday evening.
Speaking at the ceremony, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani, said they would contribute to the current move of the government to revatilise the railway system in the country.
She recalled that the federal government had moved railway construction to the concurrent list to allow the state governments to invest in the sector as a result of its importance to the development of the transport system in particular and the economy in general.
Ajani, while noting that there were many railway projects currently ongoing across the country, said the projects could only be sustained when there was capable manpower to man them.
The Permanent Secretary therefore called on the graduates to see their involvement in actualising the federal government’s agenda as a call to service to Nigeria, assuring them of a remarkable career path.
The Managing Director of CCECC Nigeria Limited, Mr. Wang Xixue, said the company had been working with the government of Nigeria, Central South University and Chang’an University in China in selecting and sponsoring young Nigerians to further their education in China since 2018.
He said: “In 2018, the first batch of 45 students who started their five-year undergraduate program in Ahmed Bello University were selected to attend this 3+2 program, which means that after 3-year study in Nigeria, they will be sponsored by CCECC to continue their study in Central South University, China.
“Among these 45 young talents, 25 students have already returned to Nigeria after their graduation in 2020. 20 are continuing their study for master’s degrees, and now these 20 students are also standing here after their successful graduation this year.
“Also, in the same year of 2018, CCECC started its 1+4 cooperation program with Chang’an University, China. Under this program, the students sponsored by CCECC will attend 1-year language study in China before they are officially enrolled in their 4-year study as undergraduate students in Chang’an University.”
Chairman of CCECC Nigeria Limited Zhang Zhichen, in his speech, congratulated the students on the successful completion of their studies, calling on them to join the company.
Zhichen also charged them to apply the knowledge and skills they learned in China to their work and contribute to the economic and social development of Nigeria, while urging them to become the ambassadors of friendship between the Chinese and Nigerians.
He said: “This year marks the tenth anniversary of “One Belt and One Road Initiative.” It is an inclusive and open platform on which member countries are cooperating and co-developing. As a member of this initiative, Nigeria is working with China not only in infrastructure development, logistics and trade, but also cultural exchange and technical know-how transfer. The graduates of 2023 are a testament of this great cooperation.
“The company is also actively playing a significant role in fulfilling its corporate social responsibility by donating at least 10 school buildings to the local communities and establishing the University of Transportation in Daura, Katsina State, to assist the technical knowhow transfer and capability building in the country.
“This cooperation program between CCECC, the government of Nigeria, and the best engineering universities in China like Central South University and Chang’an University, is another shining example of the dedication of the company to shoulder its responsibility.
“For CCECC, by sponsoring these young minds to study engineering majors, which are urgently needed in the country, the company is showing the true spirit of giving back to society, and is achieving its goal of carrying out the full industrial chain cooperation with technical knowhow transfer needed in the country,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Cui Jianchun,, while congratulating the students, said they have demonstrated how two countries could cooperate and jointly educate young talents.
He said: “It is a typical example of China-Africa cooperation in capacity building, and an epitome of in-depth cooperation between China and Nigeria.
“The students will be the promoters of cultural exchanges between China and Nigeria, and will play active roles in enhancing mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples.”
At the end of the event, the representatives of graduates and CCECC Nigeria Limited signed the letter of intent for their internship in the company.
65 Nigerians sponsored by CCECC to China return with degrees
News
Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.
Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.
The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.
The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.
The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.
“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.
The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.
He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.
Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised
News
Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.
The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.
According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.
Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani
News
Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting
By: Michael Mike
As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.
Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.
He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.
“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”
While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.
He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”
Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.
He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”
Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.
“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”
Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.
She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.
“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.
“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?
“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.
“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.
Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting
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