Former Minister Lawrencia Mallam laments collapse of Nigeria's textile industry, citing unemployment and insecurity
via Punch Nigeria2 min read
Former Minister of Environment, Lawrencia Mallam, expressed deep concern over the collapse of Nigeria's textile industry, calling it a "national shame" and a major contributor to unemployment and insecurity. Speaking at the launch of "Do the Needful: Chronicling the Life and Times of Comrade Dele Ariyo," a memoir honoring late textile union pioneer Lawrence Ariyo, Mallam highlighted the shutdown of textile mills, particularly in Kaduna State. She stated that the industry is "dead," with once-active companies and cotton production no longer existing. Mallam identified poor infrastructure, especially erratic electricity supply, as the primary obstacle to industrial growth, asserting that stable power is crucial for revival. She also criticized Nigeria's reliance on imported fabrics, noting the country's loss of its status as a leading African textile producer. Mallam believes that reviving the sector would directly address unemployment and insecurity by creating jobs. Prof Olufemi Lawal, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Lagos State University, described the memoir as a vital historical account of the industry's decline and its past economic contributions. Olusegun Ariyo, the author and son of Lawrence Ariyo, presented the book as both a tribute and a call for government action to restore the sector and create employment.
Free daily or weekly digest of the most important stories from across 10 countries. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Punch Nigeria.
Chinese startup DeepSeek has launched a new artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek-V4, featuring an ultra-long context of one million words. The company, which gained recognition last year for its cost-effective reasoning model, announced the release on WeChat and X, highlighting its "cost-effective" nature. DeepSeek-V4 is available in two versions, DeepSeek-V4-Pro and DeepSeek-V4-Flash, with the Pro version having 1.6 trillion parameters and the Flash version 284 billion parameters. The model is optimized for popular AI Agent products and, according to DeepSeek, achieves leadership in both domestic and open-source fields across agent capabilities, world knowledge, and reasoning performance. A "preview version" of the open-source model is now accessible. DeepSeek-V4-Pro is noted to significantly outperform other open-source models in world knowledge benchmarks and is only slightly behind Google's Gemini-Pro-3.1. The release comes as Meta plans staff reductions and Microsoft considers similar measures, while both invest heavily in AI. DeepSeek's previous generative AI chatbot, powered by its R1 reasoning model, challenged US dominance in the AI sector, leading to what was termed "DeepSeek shock." The company's open-source approach has led to widespread adoption of its AI tools by Chinese municipalities, healthcare institutions, and the financial sector. Chinese Premier Li Qiang recently stated that "China-made large AI models spearheaded the development of the global open-sou
The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji, also known as Abu Alaa al-Walai, the leader of the Tehran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada KSS. Washington designates KSS as a terrorist organization, stating the group has killed Iraqi civilians and attacked US diplomatic facilities, military bases, and personnel in Iraq and Syria. The US officials indicated that individuals providing information could be eligible for relocation and a reward. Al-Saraji is a member of the Coordination Framework, the ruling Shiite alliance with a parliamentary majority. Iran-backed groups have previously targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, its diplomatic and logistics facility at Baghdad’s airport, and oil fields operated by foreign companies. This reward follows a similar offer earlier this month for the leader of Kataeb Hezbollah, another Iraqi armed group. US media reports indicate Washington has been pressuring Baghdad to counter pro-Tehran groups by suspending cash shipments and freezing funding for security programs in Iraq.
Must ReadUS health officials have approved Otarmeni, a gene therapy developed by American biotechnology company Regeneron, to treat a rare form of hereditary hearing loss. This treatment targets severe-to-profound hearing loss caused by specific mutations in the OTOF gene, which affects approximately 50 newborns annually in the US. The OTOF gene encodes a protein essential for transmitting auditory signals from the inner ear to the brain. Regeneron plans to offer this treatment free of charge to eligible American patients, despite gene therapies typically being very expensive. Administered as a single injection into the ear, the therapy has been praised by parents of children who received it. A clinical trial involving 20 pediatric patients aged 10 months to 16 years showed that at least 80 percent experienced significant hearing improvement within a few months. Dr. Eliot Shearer, an ear, nose, and throat doctor at Boston Children’s Hospital involved in the trial, stated that the FDA's accelerated approval signifies a new era in treating genetic forms of hearing loss, making 24/7 natural hearing possible.
Must ReadKing Charles III is scheduled to visit the United States for four days, a trip requested by the UK government and President Donald Trump, and will be accompanied by Queen Camilla. The visit aims to honor the historic relationship between the two countries as the US celebrates 250 years of independence. However, the visit faces controversy due to transatlantic tensions over the Iran war, with President Trump criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's opposition to the war and other policies. Trump has also commented on the state of Britain's armed forces. Prime Minister Starmer has defended the state visit, emphasizing the breadth of UK-US ties, despite a YouGov poll indicating 48 percent of Britons support its cancellation. Trump, however, believes the visit could help repair relations. The UK's new ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, stated the visit is important for the countries' ties and highlighted the personal relationship between the King and the President. Monarchy expert Craig Prescott noted that the King is skilled at navigating such occasions and the independence anniversary provides a context for the trip beyond current political figures. The King is expected to address the US Congress, marking the first time a British monarch has done so since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Anti-monarchy group Republic's Graham Smith, however, views the trip as pointless. Additionally, the visit is overshadowed by the scandal surrounding late US sex offender