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Beyond Duplication: Building Stronger Institutions

By Fred Nwaozor Nigeria’s law-enforcement institutions remain central to the protection of lives, property, public resources and the rule of law. However, concerns about overlapping mandates, institutional weaknesses, inadequate coordination and the cost of maintaining numerous agencies performing closely related functions have continued to generate debate. Strengthening these institutions should therefore go beyond increasing personnel or procuring equipment. It should involve structural reforms that improve effectiveness, accountability and public confidence. One important area for reform is the rationalisation of agencies with substantially overlapping responsibilities. The existence of several institutions dealing with corruption, financial crimes, economic offences and related misconduct can create duplication, jurisdictional confusion and unnecessary administrative expenditure. A carefully designed merger of related agencies could pr...

As Super Eagles struggle to qualify for 2026 World Cup

RostrumNews
The Nigeria's Super Eagles require a high performance, coupled with luck, to scale through the 2026 World Cup qualifying stage.

Contrary to the other groups, Group C is still a three-way tussle for top spot, with all of Benin (17 points), South Africa (15) and Nigeria (14) in contention to take the automatic World Cup berth.

Had South Africa not been deducted three points by CAF for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, for the victory over Lesotho in March 2025, Nigeria's Super Eagles would be out of the running by now; but there hopes are still alive in spite of the pathetic qualifying outings, in which they won barely three of their nine matches thus far.

The Cheetahs of Benin, who are chasing debut qualification for the World Cup, are in better position, though still faced with enormous challenges ahead. If Benin win, they advance; while Nigeria need maximum points to even stand a chance topping the group.

However, a 2-1 victory for the Super Eagles would leave both sides with identical records, meaning that FIFA would need to refer to their disciplinary records (accumulation of yellow and red cards) in order to determine which team finishes higher in the group.

The Bafana-Bafana of South Africa can overtake Benin for top spot if they beat Rwanda at home and Benin loses to Nigeria.

While a South Africa win and Benin draw would make the former to qualify, if they win by two goals or more.

The Super Eagles need to win 1-0, or by a two-goal margin, and hope that South Africa does not win to progress.

Fred Nwaozor
Analyst

Fred Nwaozor, popularly known as TheMediaAmbassador, is a Nigerian tech expert, author, creative & content writer, media strategist, policy analyst, blogger, public speaker and rights activist. The renowned columnist regularly writes for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and is the Founder & Convener of Right Thinkers Movement (RITMO), Nigeria. He's a chartered industrial physicist, engineer and IT personnel. As a media guru, he enjoys an active presence in all media segments - including electronic, print & online - since two decades ago till date. As a full-time researcher and educator, he's a regular contributor and peer reviewer for various internationally-noted engineering journals. As Telecommunications and Automation engineer, his research interest mainly lies in System Modelling, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart city, Cybersecurity, Wireless networks, and Machine Learning (ML).