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By SonnyAragba-Akpore

With an upgraded number of teams from 32 to 48 as the new normal, the game of Football gets more exciting as FIFA and TikTok announce a partnership that will make viewing the matches seamlessly available via livestream. 30 content creators have also been appointed to document behind-the-scenes activities, ready for streaming.

The partnership between FIFA and TikTok will run until December 2026 in the first instance. This is the first of its kind in football history, making the matches more accessible, with an innovative partnership set to bring millions of fans even closer to the action and excitement at the FIFA World Cup 2026™.

TikTok, one of the planet’s most influential and dynamic destinations for mobile video content, will become FIFA’s first-ever Preferred Platform. This will lead to enhanced collaboration and integration, enabling TikTok to offer more comprehensive FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage, including more original content, while becoming the go-to place for fans and creators throughout the tournament.

This first-of-its-kind Preferred Platform agreement builds on the groundbreaking tie-up between FIFA and TikTok for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, which resulted in tens of billions of views. TikTok says that users can access its FIFA World Cup 2026 hubs within the main TikTok app by searching “FIFA World Cup.” These hubs are powered by TikTok Gameplan, a suite of products designed to help sports teams, leagues, and broadcasters increase discovery and deepen fan engagement. “The hub is where users can go to discover content, creators, and broadcaster highlights from the tournament.” The TikTok innovation is happening for the first time at a time FIFA upgraded the number of teams participating in the 2026 World Cup tournaments from 32 to 48 teams spread in 12 groups of 4 teams each.

TikTok last week announced the launch of a new stand-alone app in the United States of America (USA). The app will be dedicated to cultural milestones like the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The new app is named and styled TikTok Pro Events, and “allows users to engage with other fans, explore trending videos, and access curated creator feeds. TikTok says users aged 18 and above can earn “Stars,” “which can be redeemed for exclusive benefits, by completing fan-focused activities within the app, such as searching for trending hashtags, visiting the FIFA World Cup hub, and sharing content.

These exclusive benefits include official FIFA World Cup merchandise through a dedicated in-app redemption store, TikTok Shop coupons, or the opportunity to direct TikTok-funded charitable donations through a partnership with Feeding America. The new concept will elevate access, opportunities and promotion of original content for fans as part of FIFA’s strategy to engage with third-party social platforms. The Partnership will be anchored by TikTok’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ hub and include behind-the-scenes access, a global creator programme and more.

Event’s Media Partners to benefit from additional curated content and live-streaming possibilities. FIFA Secretary General Mattias  Grafstrom was quoted as saying that “FIFA’s goal is to share the exhilaration of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with as many fans as possible, and we can’t think of a better way to further that mission during the biggest event in sports history than to have TikTok as the tournament’s first Preferred Platform,” “This is an innovative and creative collaboration that will connect more fans across the globe to the FIFA World Cup in unprecedented ways, bringing them behind the curtain and closer to the action than ever before. As football grows and evolves – uniting an increasing number of people – so should the way it is shared and promoted.”

​Running until the end of 2026, the partnership also unlocks significant opportunities for official FIFA World Cup 2026 Media Partners on TikTok, including the ability to live-stream parts of matches, post more curated clips and access special content produced by FIFA for TikTok.  Broadcasters will also be able to monetise their FIFA World Cup™ coverage through TikTok’s premium advertising solutions. Finally, TikTok will implement anti-piracy policies that support and protect FIFA’s intellectual property.

The Preferred Platform partnership will be anchored by TikTok’s immersive FIFA World Cup 2026 hub, a bustling nexus powered by TikTok Gameplan that will enable fans to discover engaging content that brings the 48-team tournament to life alongside match ticket and viewing information, as well as participation incentives like custom stickers, filters and gamification features. For the first time, FIFA and TikTok will build a robust creator programme that will provide a select group of global TikTok creators with game-changing access to incredible behind-the-scenes moments such as press conferences and training sessions- and, in the process, give fans unique, relatable perspectives on the FIFA World Cup experience on TikTok.

Additionally, a wide group of creators will receive the opportunity to use and co-create FIFA archival footage. “Football has experienced explosive global growth on TikTok over the past few years, and as FIFA’s first-ever Preferred Platform, we’re excited for fans to experience the FIFA World Cup 2026 beyond the 90 minutes, with exclusive content and unprecedented creator access,” said James Stafford, Global Head of Content, TikTok. During this World Cup, TikTok users will experience a dedicated FIFA World Cup 2026 Hub featuring custom stickers, gamification, and behind-the-scenes content from 30 global Creator Correspondents.

Fans can also track live conversations and trending clips on the newly launched TikTok Pro Events standalone app. The tournament, taking place from June 11 to July 19, 2026, across 16 host cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico, brings a major shift in how fans follow soccer online. Key features and experiences users will encounter on TikTok include the Main App Hub is accessible by searching “FIFA World Cup, this nexus is powered by TikTok Gameplan. It aggregates official match schedules, ticket information, viewing details, and user-generated content. A standalone app built specifically for US users aged 18+ to track live conversations and participate in fan activities to earn in-app rewards like “Stars”.

FIFA and TikTok selected a global team of 30 content creators to provide exclusive behind-the-scenes access to press conferences, training sessions, and the fan experience. Creators and fans will gain access to co-create content using historical FIFA archive footage.

Despite the prospects of innovation, Tok has received queries on how it is protecting the data of Americans. For instance, on May 29, 2026, U.S. Democratic Senator Ed Markey formally asked TikTok’s newly ​formed U.S. joint venture and cloud computing giant Oracle(ORCL.N) to open a new tab to explain how they ‌are protecting the personal data of American users and preventing foreign entities from influencing which videos American users are shown on the app.

The move comes four months after TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, finalised a ​deal to transfer control of the app’s U.S. user data and operations to the ​joint venture TikTok USDS in a bid to avoid a government ban on ⁠the platform, which is used by more than 200 million Americans.

“The divestment deal has ​left Congress and the American people rightfully wondering whether President Trump’s TikTok deal is a ​national security risk,” Markey said in letters to Oracle and TikTok USDS. Oracle is one of TikTok USDS JV’s three managing investors. In January, TikTok said the venture will retrain, test and update TikTok’s content recommendation ​algorithm on U.S. user data, and the algorithm will be secured in Oracle’s U.S. ​cloud.

TikTok USDS, Oracle and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lawmakers have expressed frustration ‌with ⁠the lack of details about the transaction but have yet to hold any hearings. President Donald Trump opted not to enforce a law passed in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to sell its U.S. assets by the following January or face a ban – a measure upheld by ​the Supreme Court.

ByteDance said ​TikTok USDS Joint ⁠Venture LLC will protect U.S. user data, apps and algorithms through data privacy and cybersecurity measures. It has disclosed few details about the divestiture. Markey asked ​Oracle and TikTok USDS to release details on “how they are protecting ​against national ⁠security risks, including potential Chinese-driven algorithmic manipulation.” He also urged Oracle to detail its contractual terms for the review of the underlying ByteDance source code.

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By Dr Austin Maho

A recent article published by Farooq A. Kperogi in his sydicated weekly column , titled : “How Chinese Miners Fuel Nigeria’s Terrorist Banditry”, raises an urgent question: What is the nexus between illegal mining and Nigeria’s security challenges?

It is a discussion Nigerians must have. However, going through the article, it quickly narrows into a familiar pattern: “Chinese miners fuel banditry”. The evidence cited does not support that causal leap. Worse, the framing obscures the real drivers of violence, ignores Chinese victims of the same crisis, and recycles a geopolitical cliche that paints Chinese investment as uniquely predatory. Nigerians deserve to know the truth, not creating a foreign bogeyman to wish away a national crisis.

Blaming “Chinese miners” oversimplifies a complex crisis and risks xenophobic scapegoating of innocent foreigners.

1. Illegal mining is a symptom, not the disease. Banditry predates Chinese presence. Kperogi himself concedes that “illegal mining is not the sole driver of Nigeria’s insecurity.” That caveat should be the headline, not a footnote. Banditry in Zamfara exploded between 2011-2014, long before Chinese-linked companies became visible in the area. The 2019 Zamfara mining ban was imposed because bandit attacks were already rampant, not the other way around.

The roots are well documented: decades of state neglect, collapsed agricultural livelihoods, farmer-herder clashes exacerbated by climate stress, proliferation of small arms after Libya’s collapse, and the hollowing out of traditional conflict-resolution systems. In Niger State’s Shiroro LGA, communities were displaced by terrorists like Dogo Gide and ISWAP before any foreign company showed up. Mining did not create the terror. Terror created ungoverned space, and all kinds of actors local, foreign, criminal rushed into the vacuum.

To say Chinese miners “fuel” banditry reverses cause and effect. As Engr. Adamu Garba Musa asked: “If bandits are disturbing people, how come the company is working successfully?” The answer is grim but obvious: companies survive by paying what villagers cannot – protection levies, extortion, coercion, shakedown or their investments goes up in flames. This is not sponsorship. Conflating the two criminalizes victims of coercion.

2. Chinese nationals are victims, not masterminds, of kidnapping and banditry.

If Chinese-linked firms were financing bandits, why are Chinese citizens routinely kidnapped by those same bandits? The record is public:

June 2022 : Four Chinese workers abducted for ransom at a mining site in Shiroro, Niger State.

January 2023: Two Chinese nationals kidnapped in Ogun State. One police officer killed during the attack.

October 2023: Three Chinese expatriates taken in Osun State; millions allegedly paid for release.

March 2024 : A Chinese engineer abducted in Zamfara. Local police confirmed bandits demanded N100m.

August 2025: 2. Two Chinese miners killed in Kaduna when bandits attacked their site.

These are not isolated. The Chinese Embassy in Abuja has repeatedly issued security alerts and, in February 2026, called allegations of terror financing “completely baseless” while reaffirming “zero tolerance” policy toward its companies or citizens engaging in illegal mining abroad. It urged Chinese firms operating in Nigeria to strictly comply with Nigerian laws and regulations, and said the Chinese government supports legal enforcement by the Nigerian government against any individual or entity found violating those laws.

The statement also pushed back on narratives linking Chinese miners to banditry, noting that Chinese citizens have themselves been frequent victims of kidnapping and violent attacks at mining sites across Nigeria. The embassy called for objective, fact-based reporting rather than generalizations that stigmatize foreign investors. It reaffirmed China’s commitment to working with Nigerian authorities to promote lawful, orderly mining cooperation and to jointly safeguard security, adding that Beijing is willing to cooperate with Nigerian investigations and take action against any Chinese nationals proven to be involved in illegal activities.

No businessman kidnaps his own assets. The pattern is clear: Chinese firms, like Nigerian ones, operate in high-risk zones because minerals are there. They hire security, pay levies under duress, and sometimes lose staff. That makes them victims of state failure, not authors of it.

3. Narrowing it down to the “Chinese” label hides a Nigerian problem: elite complicity and regulatory failure

Every credible report Kperogi cites names the same prime mover: “politically connected Nigerians.” Dr. Maurice Ogbonnaya’s ISS work indicts “politically connected Nigerians”. The ENACT brief blames “Nigerians in high positions of authority”. The WikkiTimes investigation references licenses held by Nigerian companies, Eso Terra Investment Limited and Majelo Global Resources Limited.

In Nigeria’s mining sector, foreigners cannot hold titles directly. They partner with Nigerian license holders, who handle community relations, security, and politics. When WikkiTimes reports that “bandits were paid N3 million every week”, the question is: who negotiated that? Who knew the Dogo Gide faction’s account number? The fixers, facilitators, and profit-sharers are Nigerian. Chinese are mainly hired hands in the mines to provide their technical expertise and financing. Yet the headline becomes “Chinese Miners.” This is how structural corruption is laundered into ethnic outsourcing. We fire the cook and keep the menu.

4. “80% illegal” does not equal “80% Chinese”. The NEITI/ANEEJ report cited by Reuters says 80% of mining in the Northwest is illegal. It does not say 80% is Chinese. Artisanal and small-scale mining in Nigeria employs 500,000+ Nigerians, per the Ministry of Solid Minerals. They dig without licenses, sell to middlemen, and pay local chiefs. Chinese buyers are part of a long chain that includes Lebanese, Indian, Nigerian, and Togolese traders. Singling out one nationality distorts the narrative, and leads to ethnic profiling.

Moreover, the same ministry Kperogi credits for reform has licensed Chinese firms that do operate legally. Examples abound: Segilola Gold in Osun, Ganfeng Lithium in Nasarawa, and others are publicly listed, pay taxes, royalties, and publish ESG reports. In February 2026, the ministry announced 388 new mineral buying centers to formalize trade. Many Chinese buyers have registered. The government’s own data shows a move toward compliance, not a conspiracy.

5. The geopolitical context: who benefits when “China” is the villain? Kperogi’s piece lands in a crowded media ecosystem where “China in Africa” is shorthand for exploitation. Western outlets have run dozens of stories on Chinese illegal mining in Ghana, Zimbabwe, and DRC. Some are factual; many are thinly sourced. The pattern is to frame China as a unitary actor – “China” mines, “China” bribes, “China” funds terror – while Western firms are “companies” and Nigerian elites are “collaborators.”

That framing has costs. In 2023, a viral rumor that “Chinese miners were arming bandits” triggered attacks on Chinese workers in Zamfara. In 2024, the House of Reps had to debunk claims that Chinese firms were importing weapons. Narrative has body counts. Nigeria should not be a proxy in great-power competition. Our security analysis must be evidence-led, not geopolitics led. If a Canadian or Australian firm paid bandits to access a site, we would call it what it is: corporate criminality under duress. We would not indict Canada.

6. What a serious policy response looks like – without xenophobia. Kperogi ends with six proposals. Most are sound. But they will fail if built on a faulty diagnosis. Here’s a refined version:

1. Map the entire value chain, not just the foreign face. Publish beneficial owners, yes including Nigerian PEPs. Name the local chiefs who collect surface rents, the DSS officers who escort minerals, the customs agents who clear containers.

2. Traceability must be nationality blind. Blockchain or paper, the standard should apply to every buyer: Chinese, Lebanese, Nigerian. The 388 buying centers are a start. Expand them.

3. Prosecute the extorted and the extorter differently. A company that reports bandit levies to NSA should be treated as a witness, not a sponsor. Create a safe harbor for firms that disclose payments under duress. That dries up terror financing faster than arrests.

4. Secure mines the way we secure oil facilities. The reason bandits don’t tax oil fields is the Joint Task Force. The Mining Marshals arresting 350+ people is progress. Scale it, and embed military cover for legal sites.

5. Diplomacy, not demagoguery. China has leverage over its nationals. In 2024, Beijing blacklisted 3 firms caught in Ghana’s galamsey. Nigeria should give the Chinese Embassy a docket of allegations and demand action. Public shaming without due process just drives illegality underground.

6. Fix the livelihood crisis. Banditry pays because farming doesn’t. No amount of mining reform will work if 70% of Zamfara youth are jobless. Formalize artisanal miners into cooperatives, as Alake suggests. Give them equipment, not just arrests.

Nigeria’s minerals should be a blessing. Today they are a curse. But the curse is not Mandarin. It is impunity. It is the governor who takes a cut, the general who sells a license, the chief who rents his forest, and the bandit who taxes everyone.

Chinese firms that break the law should face the law. So should Nigerian firms. So should the officials who enable them. But to suggest that “Chinese miners fuel banditry” is to substitute a slogan for a strategy. It tells villagers in Shiroro that their enemy is a foreigner, not the governance void that left them defenseless.

Many Chinese nationals have been kidnapped, killed, and extorted in this crisis. They want what Nigerians want: roads without ambushes, sites without levies, contracts without bribes. An enabling environment for legal business is not a Chinese demand. It is a Nigerian right.

We should listen to Prof. Tade Aina and dig deeper. But let’s dig for the truth, not for a scapegoat. Banditry will end when the Nigerian state returns, with laws, with force, and with legitimacy. No embassy, East or West, can do that for us.

Dr Austin Maho is a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and publisher of Daybreak Nigeria

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By Ojomah Austin.

…promises fulfilled

Tireless efforts aptly captures His Excellency , Distinguished Senator Manu Haruna’s approach towards constituency development as within his three years at the apex legislative body, his outreach across all segments remained unequalled in Taraba Central.

In 2023 when asked what’s his mission to the National Assembly, he simply said: “Truly, if there’s something I am cringing to do if voted is to connect my constituency to national grid because we are the only constituency in the entire country that’s not probably connected to the grid.

Remarkably this has been half achieved despite low release of funds.

Today, it’s a dream fulfilled in some places as Gunduma in Taraba Central is connected to the National Grid.

Also, Mutum Biyu’s largest ward in Taraba Central Senatorial District got linked to the National Grid.

It was indeed one of his promises fulfilled.

Massive installation of solar powered energy in several communities and palaces across the district.

A PEEP INTO INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS TARABA CENTRAL:

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURES

1. Installation of solar Street lights in some selected
villages across Taraba central Zone.

2. Reconnecting of M/Biyu and Gunduma ward of
Gassol Local government back to National Grid

3. He donated 1 transformer to Gunduma and 2 new NOS Transformers and the repair of 4 NOS Transformers in Mutum-Biyu of Gassol Local Government.

4. Installation of Solar lights at PHCs in Kurmi, Garba Chede in Bali Local Government and Gunduma respectively.

5. He donated a brand new Hummer Bus to his media aides worth N25m, in order to show respect and to up hold the contemporary idea of digital governance.
Bought five state of the art operational vehicles for Taraba Central Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to ease

YOUTH/WOMEN EMPOWERMENT 

1. Placement of over 500 constituents on a monthly salary ranging from N 15,000 N 20,000 to #50,000 respectively.

2. He facilitated over 47 Youth into Nigerian Army and other paramilitary.

3. On 23 December, 2023 he sponsored free Transportation to over 600 constituents, from Jalingo to various Local governments across his Senatorial
district to Celebrates Christmas

4. Empowerment of over 300 women with 50 thousand naira each, after a training of skills acquisition program of soap making to serve as capital.

5. As a new year package for 2024 Sen Haruna Manu gave out cash sum of #50,000 naira each to about 1000 households and 10 million naira to Youth
groups across his Senatorial district, to curtail the hardship installed on them by the oil subsidy removal policy.

ONE ON ONE TOUCH:

1. Distribution of about Six trailers of Ramadan relief materials including Spaghetti, Indomie, Maggi, salt, Soap and about 18,000 bags of Rice, Maize and SUGAR respectively. Across Taraba Central Zone.

2. Gave out 10 thousand naira each to about 3000 youths, in his Senatorial district during the first week
of 2024 Ramadan month. PAGE 06

3. Sen Haruna Manu distributed about 18,000 bags of Rice and 10,000 Cartoons of Spaghetti, with over three thousand gellicans of Groundnut and Palm oil
to Christian faithful across his Senatorial District.

4. As a part of his birthday welfare package, Sen Haruna Manu celebrated his golden Jubilee by distributing thousands of food items such as rice,
spaghetti, Indomie, oil and many more to the less privileged in his Senatorial District.

MOTIONS/BILLS

Within this Period Senator Haruna Manu moved a motion of urgent public
importance over the vandalisation of the Transmission Company Of Nigeria (TCN) tower, which have retarded the economic activities of the states in
the Northeastern Subregion, and have incurred hardship on the people’s livelihood.

2. Motion on the $ 5.79 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project (MHEPP) located in Taraba State. The second motion has a direct impact on Tarabans because the Mambilla Plateau is directly in their domain.

HEALTH CARE
The wife of Senator Manu Haruna, Her
Excellency Hajiya Zainab Manu Haruna made an impromptu visit to the cottage Hospital and Referral Hospital in Mutum-Biyu to shows her support and
compassion for the those who are in need for medical care and She gave out of cash to over 300 patience with the sum of 20k each after she took the
responsibility of their medical care, on 10th March 2024.

Her Excellency Hajiya Zainab Manu Haruna took her time to visit the Nigerian Correctional Service in Mutum-Biyu and shared a greetings with
the prisoners as they preparation for Ramadan and Distributes to them a Bags of rice and Millet as their Ramadan packages during Ramadan period on 11th March 2024.

Also when there was cholera outbreak, Senator Manu Haruna quickly stepped in buying medical equipment to help checkmate the spread within his district.

Facilitated ongoing completion of Garba Chede, Bali Local Government Area of the state in 2026.

Other projects:
1. Installation of solar powered energy in Emir of Gembu’s Palace and environs

2. Installation of solar powered energy in Emir of Gashaka’s Palace and environs 3. Installation of solar powered energy in Emir of Mutum Biyu’s Palace and environs.

3. Digging of boreholes in various communities across Taraba Central.

ICT EMPOWERMENT:
1. More than 500 students trained on ICT across three LGAs in Taraba Central

2. 500 students given laptops and starter packs
across three LGAs in Taraba Central

EDUCATION:

A Scholarship program for both domestic and foreign for Taraba Central indigenes fully packaged

To this end, 31 students were given foreign scholarship for postgraduate studies in Health sciences, public health, engineering. They departed Nigeria last year December for India.

Provision of tables and chairs in primary schools and colleges across the district.

Construction of Town Halls across the five local government areas in Taraba Central.