WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Kyiv mayor says Russian drones, missiles trigger fires, injure eight

Russia attacked Ukraine's capital Kyiv early on Saturday with drones and missiles, triggering fires, strewing debris in districts throughout the city and injuring at least eight people, the city's mayor said.

Reuters witnesses saw and heard successive waves of drones flying over Kyiv, and a series of explosions jolted the city.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two residents had required hospital treatment and that air defence units were in action.

Pictures posted online showed smoke billowing from the top of one block of flats and flames leaping from part of another as emergency crews trained water on it. An orange-red glow lit up the city as plumes of smoke wafted across the horizon.

Klitschko said fragments from one drone struck the top floor of an apartment building in the Solomynskyi district on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the city. One apartment building was on fire in the area as was one non-residential building.

Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said a fire had also broken out on two floors of an apartment building in Dniprovskyi district on the opposite bank.

Officials also reported a fire in Obolon in the city's northern suburbs and fallen debris on a shopping centre in the same area. They said drone fragments hit the ground in a number of other widely separated neighbourhoods.

An air alert remained in effect more than two hours after it was first declared.

The overnight strikes followed several days of Ukrainian drone attacks - some 800 attacks - on targets inside Russia, including capital Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had vowed on Friday to respond to those attacks.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian Army enters Yunakovka in Ukraine’s Sumy region — military expert

Russian forces have entered Yunakovka in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, from where Kiev used to move troops to the bordering Russian region of Kursk, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

"According to information at my disposal, our troops have already entered the locality of Yunakovka, which served as a logistics hub for moving Ukrainian militants to the Kursk Region," he said.

On April 19, Marochko told TASS that Russian servicemen had expanded their fire control over a motor road between Yunakovka and Oleshnya that Kiev used for sending supplies to the Ukrainian battlegroup at this sector of the front line.

Reuters/Tass

A Chinese woman was allegedly forced to take off her heavy makeup after facial recognition scanners at an airport failed to confirm her identity.

A short clip showing a young woman using wet wipes to clean her face of makeup while being scolded by airport staff went viral on Chinese social media last week, sparking all sorts of humorous comments.

According to the boarding pass shown in the video next to the woman’s ID, the video was shot in September of last year, at Shanghai Airport, but only recently attracted attention online. During the short clip, the woman holding the camera (presumably an airport official), scolds the young girl, telling her that she needs to wipe off all the makeup until she looks like the picture on her identification document.

“Wipe everything off until you look like your passport photo. Why would you do your makeup like that? You are asking for trouble,” the voice behind the camera says.

It’s unclear whether the woman eventually passed the airport’s facial recognition scan, but her ordeal did inspire humorous comments on social media.

“It’s not like she was able to walk around with a filter on in real life, right?” one person asked.

Others took pity on the young woman, saying that she already looked embarrassed enough, and there was no woman for the airport official to nag her about the makeup, while others wondered whether the makeup should be an issue for modern facial recognition scanners.

“No matter how thick the makeup is, the face shouldn’t be unrecognizable, right? Isn’t it time to upgrade the equipment?” one person wondered.

We reported a similar incident a while back, when several Chinese women had problems entering the country after flying to South Korea for facial plastic surgery, which changed their look so much that they became unrecognizable.

Oddity Central

Maybe coffee doesn't need to be the very first step in our morning routines.

While it's often associated with wakefulness, experts claim there may be benefits to holding off on that cup of joe for a different time of day.

Cortisol, a stress hormone, is highest in our body right as we wake up, according to Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition.

From there, she said, it begins to decline naturally throughout the day.

Caffeine is a stimulant, so if it's consumed (by drinking coffee, for example) when cortisol is high, that can increase stress levels that were already high at the beginning of the day. 

Note the time delay

"The [cortisol] decline is different for everyone but typically occurs one-and-a-half to two hours after you wake," Zumpano said.

That's the best time to have coffee, Zumpano said.

That way, "you can rely on your body's natural alert system - cortisol - and when it declines, then you use caffeine to provide the boost."

"There is no specific time that's best to drink caffeine," the dietitian added. "[It's] based on when you wake and your natural rise and drop in cortisol."

Yet adhering to the body's natural wake-up processes can help sustain energy levels by avoiding one big cortisol, caffeinated crash.

Fox News Digital previously reported on smart ways to consume coffee, with an expert noting that coffee drinking should be tailored to each individual.

"For some people, waking up and having a glass of water to rehydrate and then having coffee works well – but for others the morning ritual of having a cup of coffee first thing upon awakening is just too good to give up," said Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based sleep expert and senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. 

"So, I think it's mostly a matter of personal preference."

Know when to cut it off

The ideal window may begin two hours after waking up, but how long do we have until we need to cut the coffee again before going to sleep?

"I typically suggest six to eight hours before bed, but some people are slow metabolizers of caffeine," Zumpano said. So "it may take longer for their bodies to excrete caffeine."

For those people, she suggests limiting consumption in the nine-to-12-hour window before bed.

"Coffee is high in antioxidants and can aid in alertness and wakefulness, although one should not be dependent on caffeine for this effect," she said.

"If you struggle with caffeine addiction, look at other lifestyle factors such as sleep duration and quality, nutrition, exercise, and timing and amount of caffeine consumption."

Fox News

New statistics from the UK Office for National Statistics reveal that Nigeria maintained its position as a major contributor to British immigration in 2024, with approximately 52,000 Nigerian nationals relocating to the country throughout the year.

The figures come amid a dramatic reduction in overall UK net migration, which plummeted by nearly half to 431,000 in the year ending December 2024, down from 860,000 the previous year—representing a decline of almost 50 percent.

Work and Study Drive Nigerian Migration

The data shows that Nigerian immigrants primarily arrived for employment and educational opportunities. Work-related visas accounted for 27,000 arrivals, while 22,000 came on study visas. The remaining 3,000 entered under various other immigration categories.

Nigeria's substantial contribution places it alongside India, Pakistan, and China as the leading sources of non-EU+ migration to the UK. Indian nationals topped the list as the most common non-EU+ immigrants during this period.

According to the ONS report, "Work and study-related immigration were the primary reasons for migration among Indian, Pakistani, and Nigerian nationals."

Demographics of New Arrivals

The migration data reveals key demographic patterns among non-EU+ immigrants. The vast majority—83 percent—fell within working age (16-64 years), with a relatively balanced gender split of 52 percent male and 48 percent female.

Children under 16 represented 16 percent of all migrants, while those over 65 accounted for just one percent of arrivals.

Factors Behind Overall Decline

While countries like Nigeria continued to send significant numbers of migrants to the UK, the broader downward trend in immigration resulted from multiple factors. Reduced arrivals on work and study visas from non-EU+ countries contributed to the decline, along with increased emigration rates.

The statistics suggest that many individuals who arrived during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic have since returned to their home countries, particularly those who came on study visas.

The most significant decrease occurred in work-related immigration among primary applicants, which fell by 108,000—a 49 percent year-on-year reduction. Study-related immigration dropped by 17 percent, while the number of study dependents saw the steepest decline at 86 percent.

Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, has stated that the Federal Government earns 52 kobo in taxes from every N1 generated through the production and sale of Dangote Cement.

He made this disclosure during the 2025 Taraba International Investment Summit, held under the theme: “Unlocking Taraba’s Investment Potentials: Advancing Agriculture, Energy, Mining, and Industrialisation for Sustainable Growth and Development.”

Dangote emphasized the importance of creating an enabling environment for businesses, noting that both private and public investments benefit the government through tax revenues.

“It may surprise you to learn that the Federal Government—not even the states—earns more from our cement operations than we do. For every naira we generate, 52 kobo goes to the government,” he said.

Dangote underscored the role of taxation in funding essential services and infrastructure, stating, “We often say government has no business in business—and that may be true. But how else do they generate the revenue needed for education, healthcare, roads, and other public services? Through taxes.”

He cited the example of the United States, saying, “Have you ever heard of the American government owning oil blocks? No. Yet, they are the world’s leading oil producers. Their income comes through taxation.”

Suspected  bandits have killed four people, including two soldiers, in an attack on Ijaha Ikobi, a community in the Apa Local Government Area of Benue State.

A resident of the area who identified himself simply as Adakole told our correspondent that the assailants, believed to be armed herders, invaded the community on Wednesday and laid an ambush.

“The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday when residents began to hear sporadic gunshots within the village,” he said.

“Some soldiers who responded to a distress call ran into the ambush laid by the Fulani herdsmen. Two of them were killed.”

Adakole gave the names of the two civilian victims as Ocheje Sani and Aduba Ogboyi.

He alleged that the attackers also carted away military weapons, including two AK-47 rifles and one submachine gun.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Apa Local Government Area, Adam Ogwola, told journalists via telephone on Thursday that the attack occurred in the early hours of Wednesday.

“I received a call about an attack in Ikobi community. Initially, I couldn’t reach anyone there. Later, I got confirmation that two soldiers had been killed,” Ogwola said.

“This morning, the bodies of the two civilians were discovered.”

He noted that the situation in the area was relatively calm, and security had been reinforced with the deployment of more soldiers and police officers.

The chairman also confirmed that the civilian victims had been buried in accordance with local customs.

“Because of our people’s culture, we do not usually keep bodies of those who die in such tragic circumstances in the mortuary. We are in a period of hit-and-run attacks by herders. In such situations, burials typically happen within 24 hours,” he explained.

“The two civilians have been buried, while the bodies of the slain soldiers have been moved out of the community. I’m not sure if they were taken to the mortuary in Ugbokpo or Makurdi.”

Efforts to reach the acting Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, Operation Whirl Stroke, Lawal Osabo, were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls.

Similarly, calls to the spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command, Catherine Anene, went unanswered, and messages sent to her phone were not returned.

Punch

Aid trucks enter Gaza after delays, as pressure mounts on Israel

Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, as UN officials reported that distribution issues had meant that no aid had so far reached people in need.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be open to a temporary ceasefire to enable the return of hostages. But otherwise he said it would press ahead with a military campaign to gain total control of Gaza.

After an 11-week blockade on supplies entering Gaza, the Israeli military said a total of 98 aid trucks entered on Monday and Tuesday. But even those minimal supplies have not made it to Gaza's soup kitchens, bakeries, markets and hospitals, according to aid officials and local bakeries that were standing by to receive supplies of flour.

"None of this aid - that is a very limited number of trucks - has reached the Gaza population," said Antoine Renard, country director of the World Food Programme.

The blockade has left Gazans in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival, despite growing international and domestic pressure on Israel's government, which one opposition figure said risked turning the country into a "pariah state".

Thousands of tons of food and other vital supplies are waiting near crossing points into Gaza but until it can be safely distributed, around a quarter of the population remains at risk of famine, Renard said.

"I'm here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people while it is not enough for one person," said Mahmoud al-Haw, who says he often waits for up to six hours a day hoping for some lentil soup to keep his children alive.

U.N. officials said security issues had prevented the aid from moving out of the logistics hub at the Kerem Shalom crossing point but late on Wednesday there appeared some hope that supplies would move more freely.

Nahid Shahaiber, a major transport company owner, said 75 trucks of flour and over a dozen more carrying nutritional supplements and sugar were inside the southern area of Rafah and witnesses said trucks carrying flour had been seen in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering Gaza in March, saying Hamas was seizing supplies meant for civilians - a charge the group denies.

Under mounting international pressure, it has allowed aid deliveries by the U.N. and other aid groups to resume briefly until a new U.S.-backed distribution model using private contractors operating through so-called secure hubs is up and running by the end of the month. But the United Nations says the plan is not impartial or neutral, and it will not be involved.

'PARIAH STATE'

As people waited for supplies to arrive, air strikes and tank fire killed at least 50 people across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health authorities said. The Israeli military said air strikes hit 115 targets, which it said included rocket launchers, tunnels and unspecified military infrastructure.

Efforts to halt the fighting have faltered, with both Hamas, which insists on a final end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces, and Israel, which says Hamas must disarm and leave Gaza, sticking to positions the other side rejects.

Netanyahu said an Israeli air strike this month had probably killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar and he reiterated his demand for the complete demilitarization of Gaza and the exile of Hamas leaders for the war to end.

The resumption of the assault on Gaza since March, following a two-month ceasefire, has drawn condemnation from countries including Britain and Canada that have long been cautious about expressing open criticism of Israel. Even the United States, the country's most important ally, has shown signs of losing patience with Netanyahu.

Netanyahu said it was "a disgrace" that countries like Britain were sanctioning Israel instead of Hamas.

There has been growing unease within Israel meanwhile at the continuation of the war while 58 hostages remain in Gaza.

Left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan drew a furious response from the government and its supporters this week when he declared that "A sane country doesn't kill babies as a hobby" and said Israel risked becoming a "pariah state among the nations."

Golan, a former deputy commander of the Israeli military who went single-handedly to rescue victims of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, leads the left-wing Democrats, a small party with little electoral clout.

But his words, and similar comments by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in an interview with the BBC, underscored the rift within Israel. Netanyahu dismissed the criticism, saying he was "appalled" by Golan's comments.

Opinion polls show widespread support for a ceasefire that would include the return of all the hostages, with a survey from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem this week showing 70% in favour of a deal.

But hardliners in the cabinet, some of whom argue for the complete expulsion of all Palestinians from Gaza, have insisted on continuing the war until "final victory", which would include disarming Hamas as well as the return of the hostages.

Netanyahu, trailing in the opinion polls and facing trial at home on corruption charges, which he denies, as well as an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, has so far sided with the hardliners.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people by Israeli tallies and saw 251 hostages abducted into Gaza.

The campaign has killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip, where aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread.

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia set on creating ‘buffer zone’ in Ukraine – Putin

The Russian military has been tasked with creating a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. 

The president made the remarks during a government meeting dedicated to the situation in Russia’s border regions, including Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk. Additional measures to support their residents were also discussed.

“It has been decided to create the necessary security buffer zone along the border. Our armed forces are actively solving this task now. The enemy’s firing positions are suppressed, the work is going on,” Putin stated.

The idea to create “a certain cordon sanitaire” in Ukrainian-controlled territory along the border was first floated by Putin last March. The president said Moscow could ultimately be “forced” to create such a zone in order to protect civilians in the border regions from Ukrainian long-range strikes. Russian troops would create a “security zone that would be quite difficult for the adversary to overcome with its weapons, primarily of foreign origin,” if and “when we consider it appropriate,” Putin stated at the time.

Putin’s announcement comes in the wake of an indiscriminate Ukrainian strike on the Kursk town of Lgov that left at least 12 civilians wounded, including two children. According to interim Kursk Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein, the attack targeted an area near the Kursk-Rylsk highway where the route enters the town. Media reports indicated the strike involved at least three projectiles fired by a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher.

Over the past two days, Kiev conducted a massive long-range drone attack even deeper into Russia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 485 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs were downed across the country in the past 48 hours. At least 63 of the drones were intercepted in Moscow Region, while the largest number were stopped over Orel Region, the military said.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia says it downs at least 159 Ukrainian drones, fires Iskander missile

Russia said on Thursday it had shot down 159 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including about 20 headed towards Moscow, as the war in Ukraine heated up despite major powers discussing ways to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring Russia and Ukraine to end the more than three-year war, but the two sides remain far apart. Ukraine and its Western allies are demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire but Russia says certain conditions must first be met. Kyiv says those conditions are unacceptable.

While leaders talk of the prospects for peace, the war is intensifying: swarms of drones are being launched by both sides while fierce fighting is underway along key parts of the front.

Russia's defence ministry said 159 drones had been shot down over Russian regions between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. (0500-1700 GMT) on Thursday. The previous day, Russia said it shot down well over 300 Ukrainian drones.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported late in the evening that 17 drones had been downed over the region surrounding Moscow, which has a population of 21 million. Sobyanin had earlier reported 40 downed drones overnight.

Three Moscow airports - Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky - suspended flights intermittently.

Separately, Russia said on Thursday it had fired an Iskander-M missile at part of the city of Pokrov, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze, in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, destroying two Patriot missile launchers and an AN/MPQ-65 radar set.

Ukraine's air force reported damage in the Dnipropetrovsk region after an attack but did not specify the type of weapon.

The governor of Russia's western Kursk region said a Ukrainian missile strike on the town of Lgov had wounded 16 people.

The Russia-installed governor of the occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said a Ukrainian strike had killed a woman and injured four children in a car.

RUSSIA REPORTS ADVANCES

Russia's defence ministry said its forces were advancing at key points along the front, and pro-Russian war bloggers said Russia had pierced Ukrainian lines between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

The Russian defence ministry said its forces had captured the settlement of Nova Poltavka in between those two towns.

Ukraine's military made no such acknowledgement in a late evening report on the area but the popular DeepState war blog, which refers to open source reports, showed the settlement to be under Russian occupation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said on Wednesday that the heaviest frontline battles were around Pokrovsk, but made no reference to any Russian advances.

Russia currently controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine and says the territory is now formally part of Russia, a position Ukraine and its European allies do not accept.

Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. Russian forces also control almost all of Luhansk and more than 70% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, according to Russian estimates. Russia also controls a sliver of the Kharkiv region.

RT/Reuters

The last time a public official wept on national TV, Nigerians regretted offering her towels instead of buckets to collect her tears. She was acting, but we didn’t know it.

Diezani Allison-Madueke had just been appointed Minister of Transport and went on a tour to assess some major roads. At the Benin end of the Lagos-Benin highway, she broke down and wept. She was seeing for the first time, outside her bubble, what Nigerians knew and endured daily: poor, hazardous roads.

Her tears changed nothing. She left the roads in a worse state than she found them, but Nigeria being Nigeria, she went on to become the Minister for Petroleum Resources and subsequently left the place in a more disastrous condition than Nigerian roads.

On May 15, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, wept on national TV for a different reason. As a result of human negligence, the results of the 2025 UTME examination went horribly wrong, affecting 379,997 out of the 1.9 million students who took the exam. It was not a system glitch as widely reported. Some individuals responsible for patching or updating the servers were negligent, leading to a disastrous outcome.

Paying the price

The grief lies in the details. For instance, 19-year-old Faith Opesusi Timileyin, who was re-sitting the exam, hoping to study microbiology if she could improve on the 193 out of 400 she scored last year, took her own life by ingesting poison. She could not bear the shame of failing again. The same echoes of embarrassment and distress resonated across the country as thousands of young people, who made sacrifices and braved difficult conditions to take the exam, now contemplate their fate and what could have been.

Yet, Nigerians, despite being jaded by years of disappointment with incompetent public officials, can sense the difference between Diezani’s crocodile tears and Oloyede’s misery. One was a con artist; the other, the victim of “horrible, but not unexampled error,” as Farooq Kperogi noted in his column on Saturday.

Remaking of JAMB

Oloyede’s JAMB is not JAMB as it was. One of the biggest dramas in the institution’s 47-year history unfolded two years after he was appointed registrar, following his exceptional record as vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin. JAMB introduced computerised examinations in 2014, but the system, still in its infancy at the time, was marred by delays, confusion, and scratch-card fraud.

Oloyede ordered an investigation, which found that the place was infested with snakes, including boa constrictors, that had allegedly swallowed millions of naira from the sale of scratch cards, except that the snakes were human beings. One Philomina Chieshe, a clerk at JAMB’s Benue State office, swallowed N36 million from the sale of scratch cards and told investigators and the court that it was indeed a snake that had mysteriously devoured the money.

Killing the snakes

Seven years after she was arraigned, neither Chieshe nor any of the reptiles in the scratch-card hole have been held accountable for the fraud. Apart from swallowing N36 million, which was equivalent to $100,000 at the time, the snakes also appear to have swallowed the courts and the prosecutors.

I have criticised JAMB in the past for several reasons, mainly because I still believe that a decentralised placement system, as practised in pre-1978 Nigeria, the US, and South Korea, works better.

Yet, whatever the inadequacies of JAMB, the board has, especially under Oloyede's leadership in the last nine years, transformed from a snake-infested wasteland of corruption and mediocrity into one of Nigeria’s most responsive and better-run public institutions.

Fresh air

In a country where lawmakers routinely inflate the appropriation bill by billions of naira, and ministries and government departments are broke, unimaginative and opaque, Oloyede is a breath of fresh air. He has remitted over N55 billion to the federal treasury, compared to less than N60 million remitted in the 38 years preceding his tenure.

But it’s not just about the money. To promote openness, accountability, and inclusiveness on the board, he expanded the decision-making process to include independents and other professionals in monitoring and evaluating the board’s activities, particularly the UTME exam. Still, despite our best efforts, bad things happen.

‘Not unexampled’

The 2025 UTME disruption was a horrible mishap. Still, it’s not without recent examples, one from Oxford University in 2023 and the other from the 2025 US SAT exams, both of which were cited in Kperogi’s article. There was a particularly heart-rending debacle in September 2023 when the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK made a catastrophic error in the Part 2 written results of the postgraduate medical diploma exam.

Two hundred and twenty-two doctors were informed that they had passed when in fact they had failed, while 61 were told they had failed despite passing. Imagine the horror of the patients who may have been treated by “failed” doctors, not to mention the distress of those who passed but were told they failed, or the anguish of those who made progress yet were instructed to re-sit the exam.

To resign or not?

After taking responsibility for the error, Oloyede told the press that he was prepared to resign, but was persuaded that his resignation would compound rather than solve the problem. I agree. I do not share the view that all those calling for his resignation are necessarily out to settle personal scores, even though this may be correct in some instances, especially among politicians who have decided to ethnicise the matter.

The registrar bears a responsibility to the memory of the candidate who died, to the thousands of hard-working candidates who gave their best in the exam, and to the reputation he has established as an exemplary public servant to reform the system and use the lessons from this tragic episode to enhance the processes and outcomes of future exams.

Wake-up call

Parents must also play a role. We exaggerate the significance of UTME results beyond their true value, placing unnecessary pressure on candidates. Under the current system, most universities and institutions of higher learning offer admission based on the weighted average of three examination results. While the UTME result constitutes 50 per cent of the final score, the WASSCE or O/Level results and post-UTME exams, if conducted, make up the remaining 50 per cent.

Unfortunately, we have constructed a dangerous illusion that everything hinges on performance at JAMB, resulting in a frantic quest for JAMB success that now haunts us. We may never know if Faith would have taken her own life had she realised that a low JAMB score alone does not necessarily signify the end of the road to admission.

Fall to rise

Oloyede’s tears may seem insufficient to assuage a nation in grief, but he has demonstrated, over the last nine years and long before he became registrar, that he does not take his job lightly. One mishap should not define his tenure. When the ongoing investigation is complete and the house cleaning done, a sceptical public must know the steps taken to prevent a repeat.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book, Writing for Media and Monetising It.

Stefan Grigorov

Key Takeaways

• People, not tools, drive innovation in the age of AI.
• Consensus and emotional intelligence unlock organizational resilience and creativity.
• Adaptive, value-driven leadership builds purpose-aligned, future-ready teams.

In an era of technological disruption and economic uncertainty, a 2024 Harvard Business Review research reveals that the "war for talent" continues to rage, with 91.9% of executives citing cultural obstacles as the greatest barrier to organizational transformation.

Through years of being a social entrepreneur and COO of a custom software company, I've learned that the most successful organizationsare rarely built by individual efforts alone, but rather by leaders who recognize that people are their greatest asset.

Leaders should not be just decision-makers, but cultivators of talent, innovation and collective growth. Leadership, therefore, should become less about commanding and more about connecting and creating environments where human potential can truly flourish.

Here are five mistakes leaders must avoid in 2025.

1. Neglecting human development

When AI first started transforming our industry, I watched talented professionals worry about their future. The fear wasn't just about job security — it was about relevance. On the contrary, although a McKinsey report reveals that 92% of companies plan to increase AI investments, only 1% consider their implementation truly mature.

The greatest asset of any company is not its technology, but its people. Leadership in the age of AI is less about implementing the latest tools — it's more about creating environments where human potential can thrive. Innovative companies are carefully choosing how to integrate AI, balancing technological capabilities with human expertise. They recognize that some roles may be transformed or replaced, while technological tools will replace others.

Technology works best as a partner that enhances human creativity and problem-solving. The goal is not to avoid technological change but to strategically use it, allowing both human potential and tools to drive organizational growth together.

2. Failing to build a consensus-driven culture

Bringing diverse perspectives together is increasingly valuable in today's organizations. While traditional top-down approaches work in some situations, collaborative methods often spark more innovation. Most teams benefit from finding a good balance between making timely decisions and including different viewpoints.

Consensus-driven cultures require more than just occasional team meetings. They require structured processes that systematically encourage dialogue, active listening and collective decision-making through cross-functional workshops, feedback channels and more.

The strength of an organization often lies in its ability to transform different viewpoints into innovative solutions, turning diverse perspectives from potential conflict into a source of creativity and strategic insight.

3. Ignoring value alignment

Values aren't just words on a wall — they're the heartbeat of an organization. Keeping these principles active in daily decisions takes conscious effort.

Creating real value alignment is about more than good intentions. It's a deliberate, ongoing process of bringing your beliefs into everyday decisions. This means making choices that genuinely reflect your organization's core commitments — whether that's environmental sustainability, social impact or a deep investment in continuous learning. Successful organizations often take time to thoughtfully apply their values to everyday situations and decisions.

The key is authenticity. When an organization's actions consistently reflect its stated beliefs, something powerful happens. Employees become more than just workers—they become believers. Customers transform from transactions to loyal supporters and ambassadors. And the organization itself becomes more than a business—it becomes a community with a shared purpose.

4. Underestimating adaptive leadership

The complexity of modern organizations demands more than traditional leadership approaches. Adaptive leadership, a framework developed by Harvard scholars, recognizes that today's most pressing challenges can't all be solved with existing knowledge. I've watched industries transform faster in the past five years than in the previous two decades, meaning that leadership now is about guiding organizations through unprecedented change.

This approach recognizes two types of challenges: routine problems with known solutions, and complex issues that require fresh thinking. Good leadership involves creating an environment where teams can solve problems together rather than expecting leaders to have all the answers. Effective teams develop the ability to adapt quickly when facing unexpected situations.

5. Overlooking emotional intelligence

In a world where AI can handle more technical tasks, human connection has become our most valuable currency. I've seen brilliant teams fall apart not because of technical challenges, but because they failed at communicating and understanding each other.

Emotional intelligence isn't a soft skill — it's the foundation of how we work together. It means creating spaces where people feel safe to share ideas, where differences are seen as strengths and where success is measured not just by numbers, but by how we treat each other. The most powerful teams are those that know how to bring out the best in each other.

Entrepreneur