Photo credit: CAC / Cooperate Affairs Commission   F or years, it has been difficult to know who truly owns many companies in Nigeria. Names on paper often hide the real people behind big contracts and questionable deals. The Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, says it wants to change this, and it has started by training journalists and civil society groups to use a tool that exposes hidden owners. The tool is called the Beneficial Ownership Register. It is a free public database that shows the real individuals who own, control and benefit from a company, not just the directors listed on official documents. The training, which lasted for one day, brought together reporters and members of civil society organisations. The aim was to teach them how to search the register, understand what it contains, and use it for investigative work. Opening the session, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, said journalists and civil society groups ...

N igeria’s fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping has received a major lift as five new combat helicopters joined the Nigerian Air Force fleet. The new arrivals - three AW-109 Trekker B helicopters built by Italy’s Leonardo and two Airbus H-125s - landed in Lagos on Monday, September 15, with Air Force authorities confirming that two had been delivered earlier. The five aircraft are part of a larger order of ten, with the remaining helicopters expected before December. For troops on the frontline, the new addition means faster backup and sharper eyes in the sky. Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, said the helicopters will give the Air Force greater flexibility to respond to distress calls and support ground forces battling insurgents and criminal gangs across the country. “The arrival of these five helicopters provides greater flexibility in the employment of airpower in support of ground troops in ongoing operations,” Aneke said. He explained that the t...