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To convict Orji Uzor Kalu — former Abia State Governor, Senator and chief whip of the senate — of a ₦7.7 billion fraud allegation, the trial courts engaged in proceedings so elongated, a child born at its inception would have been gearing up for senior secondary school upon its end.
With the Supreme Court decision of May 8th however, it appears the convict Kalu, plus two others, might be gearing up for a repeat, lengthened performance against the Nigerian judiciary. The apex court has ordered a re-trial in the matters laid against them.
Why Was Orji Kalu Convicted For Fraud?
Between May 1999 and May 2007, Orji Uzor Kalu served as the governor of Abia State. Within that time, using his largely unfettered access to state funds, he is alleged to have employed the use of his company – Slok Nigeria Limited and the connivance of Udeh Udeogu, the Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House during his tenure, to misappropriate ₦7 billion belonging to the Abia people.
This led to corruption charges being brought against him, his company and Udeogu by the EFCC. The trial began in 2007 and didn’t conclude until 2019, owed to repeated adjournments and delays on the part of the defence.
In a judgement delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, Orji Uzor Kalu was sentenced to 12 years in prison. His company – Slok Nigeria ltd was ordered to be wound up with assets forfeited to the government, while Udeogu was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
What is responsible for Orji Uzor Kalu’s release from prison?
Given the 12-year duration of the trial laid out against Kalu and his cohorts, changes were bound to be made.
While Kalu thrived, running for the presidency and winning a senatorial position, so did the Justice in charge of the proceedings against him – Justice Mohammed Idris.
In 2018, during the course of the trial, Idris was promoted from the high court to the Court of Appeal. However, using a special fiat granted by Zainab Bulchachawa, a former president of the Court of Appeal, he was permitted to continue presiding over Orji Kalu’s matter.
The Supreme Court however rejected this power, citing it as being in conflict with several decisions of the Supreme Court, and therefore unconstitutional.
By doing this, the Supreme Court has ordered the trial, which began in 2007, to start all over again.
What does Orji Uzor Kalu think of the recent developments?
As expected, the previously convicted former governor is pleased to be released from prison. In a statement put out following his freedom, he noted that the events of the past five months which saw his incarceration have given him a new leash on justice and injustice in Nigeria.
On the way forward with the trial, the EFCC has announced that re-trial proceedings will begin immediately.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
If all my many years of watching overly dramatic spy-thrillers has taught me anything, it’s that Russia, its spies and its president are 100% not to be messed with.
I thought everyone that journeyed to Moscow in 2018 had serious mind,and I still can’t watch Vladimir Putin on the news without avoiding eye contact.
I’m a professional drama-queen in case anyone missed it.
Thankfully, the subject of this week’s Abroad Life is less easily swayed. He’s lived in Russia for the past nine months, attending school while also pastoring a church. He tells us how balancing that has been going since the countrywide lockdowns were instituted.
For those who think Russia is a scary place where ‘KGB’ are the first letters children learn and vodka is a suitable H2O supplement, how very wrong are we/me?
I have to say, Russia is fantastic, and it’s filled with the best people. Before I came to Russia, I was under the impression that they weren’t friendly people, but from my very first day here, up until now, all the Russians I’ve met have been very helpful. Some have even gone out of their way to be kind.
Blink twice over this WhatsApp voice call where I can’t see you — if you’re being made to say this
Haha. But really, they are helpful, and it might be because I’m black, because it still isn’t common place to see that many black people in Russia. I remember when I first landed in Russia, like that very day. Two people, out of the goodness of their hearts helped me carry my bags and helped me get to the right place to book a ticket to my destination.
Okay, forget blinking. Cough twice
Hahaa. You know what, sometimes they want to take pictures with me on the street or in the shopping malls, again, because I’m black and it’s still uncommon to see here. But they’re always very good-natured when they ask to do so.
It’s definitely great to know you’re in a welcoming environment. Now, moving past my very tired tropes of Russia, I know you’re primarily there for school, how difficult was making the transmission from Nigeria all the way?
Making the move really wasn’t difficult. The processes were very clear. I just needed the right documents and that was it. I remember being at my visa interview and laughing almost throughout with my brother, who is my sponsor, and the interviewer.
I mean, it was obviously hard leaving family, but everyone understood why I had to leave, so it made the transmission pretty easy.
Great, I hear that. Now, I’m on damage control for all the stereotypes I’ve been encouraging. To make up for this, let’s hear some of the best bits about living in Russia.
Hmm. I have to say for me, the language is one of the best parts,it’s so fascinating to me and it’s incredibly fun to learn. I’m studying software engineering, but before that, I have to complete a mandatory one year Russian language course in the university before beginning my main course the following year.
Now normally I’d have put you on the spot and made you translate something like, ‘Boyin is the cutest Zikoko staff member’ in Russian, but I’m changing my ways. Instead, let me jump in and ask how you’re managing language classes in the midst of the coronavirus
Well, obviously we’ve all gone online. But early on with the virus, we were mixing online classes with some physical meetings. My language class is on the top floor of my hostel so we would occasionally meet.
Other than that, schools are closed, online classes are in full force and the government has banned gatherings of more than ten people.
Got it, so what else is great about Russia?
The weather. It is fantastic. Let me tell you something. In March, it was meant to be spring, but somehow it was snowing. The weather can be unpredictable, but that’s what makes it so great.
*Stares in rain, dry and harmattan seasons*
Another thing I love is the Russian transportation system. It is excellent. So that’s language, the weather and the transport systems for my favourite things in Russia.
Oh easily, being able to gather physically for church services. I pastor a Christ Embassy Church in Tver, Russia. It would be great to meet with the congregation in fellowship again.
Fantastic! Hold that thought, we’ll get right to it. But first, a little balancing act. You’ve said what you love about Russia, now what are the downsides?
Well. I’d have to say being under constant surveillance. Russia is known for this, but it’s mostly for a good cause.Over here, because cameras are constantly on you, you’re required to always be on your best behaviour. So little things like littering, Russia doesn’t have problems with that. Imagine how in control it is of more serious situations.
But the surveilling can be a little annoying.
Big Brother has entered the chat
After that, I have to say getting a job placement in your first few months. If you can’t speak Russian, getting a job will be very difficult for you. So if you don’t find a job in a multi-national company or something of the sorts, getting a job can be difficult.
I imagine how limiting that can be for foreigners. So a big pro-tip for anyne looking to work in Russia, learn the language first
Definitely.
Now to the ministry. You’ve been in Russia a number of months now. How was the transition from managing a Nigerian church in Nigeria, to managing a Nigerian church all the way on the other side of the world?
First, you have to know that the approach to ministry is way different here than it is in Nigeria. First, we had to get a license before even starting the church. We even had to even come in as the English version of an already existing church before they granted us the opportunity.
Oh wow, they don’t play. How is balancing school with pastoral duties going?
Well, it’s all about planning. I pastor a church where there are black members from Congo, Ghana, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Nigeria. And also some white members, we have services translated to Russian as well, so it’s a special grace I’m grateful for. Learning to balance classes and receiving directives from my Group Pastor or the Regional Director for Europe during weekly meetings, defintitely help. It requires a lot of balance.
Definitely. Now we’re in scary times. This is a faith question. Do you think there’s a reason we’re experiencing all this? Asking for a person trying to make sense of this all
The world is fighting an enemy they don’t understand; one that seems more powerful than them, against which they have no weapons. This just shows the extent of human frailty, the weakness of men. They can only fight what they understand, yet the greatest enemies of this world are unseen; they’re invisible, and this is what Jesus came to show us. He came to show us the real adversary and to give us adequate weapons against the most wicked and vicious enemies of men.
Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.
Odumeje The Lion is currently everywhere you turn. Since you’re probably not going out much, this means he’s on your Twitter feed, your Instagram feed, WhatsApp stories and TikTok.
But who is Odumeje The Lion? We might not know his life’s story but we know he is the guy making us laugh as the world seems to fall apart and we cannot help but stan. You’ve probably been sleeping under the rock if you haven’t seen or heard about him.
Now literally everything this man says or does is gold, but we’re just going to share some of his videos.
The next time you’re in a bad mood or feeling heart broken, just chant these words to yourself:
“I’m the lion himself. I’m the fight. I’m the liquid metal. I’m the Indaboski.”
On April 29th, amidst fears over the growing cases of the Coronavirus nationwide, a different kind of tragedy struck. Love Divine a.ka. Picture Kodak – a talented video actress whose larger than life presence charged the video productions of stars like Olamide, Burna Boy and Wizkid – lost her life in the Ogudu home of popular music director Clarence Peters. She had allegedly suffered a fatal electrocution.
Upon news of her passing making the necessary, its circumstances came into questions. A possible arrest of the director – Clarence Peters whose home the events transpired also crawled through the grape vine. He was allegedly being fingered in connection with Miss Divine’s tragic passing. Days of speculation followed suit.
On May 4th, 2020, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command – Bale Elkana confirmed that Clarence Peters was in detention and had been in detention since the tragic incident occurred. According to him, autopsy results were being awaited to determine the levels of involvement of the parties who were present when Picture Kodak was allegedly electrocuted. Peters was to remain in custody until such a time.
Prior to the police force’s statement on the matter, support for the video director from the singer Waje and Peter’s alleged long-time girlfriend – Jennifer Alegieuno had trooped out. Aleguino clarified in a post on Instagram, that no arrest had been made, but rather, Peters had willingly made his way to the Police Command in Yaba where he was invited for questioning.
Clearing up speculation, Clarence Peters, via his Instagram account (@clarenceshotit) narrated events as they transpired from his vantage point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_wp4LzDAFG/
According to the video director, the circumstances that led to the tragic death of Picture Kodak transpired in a dance studio on the premises of his Capital Dreams Pictures lot. He narrated how, while in a different section of the lot, the 5 people present in the studio noted Kodak reach for her phone, before collapsing to the ground where smoke began to emit from her chest.
He was then alerted of the possible electrocution, following which through concerted efforts with those present, Kodak was taken to one hospital, then the next where she was denied treatment over fears that she harboured the coronavirus.
Reaching a third hospital, she was permitted in. She tragically lost her life after only thirty minutes within the establishment.
Following which, the witnesses were taken to the Ojodu Police HQ straight from the hospital, where statements and the phone in question were deposited.
Clarence Peters denied being charged or arrested, but merely showed a willingness to co-operative with the police department.
The determination of the autopsy results will determine the next steps in Miss Picture Kodak’s case. She is dearly missed by friends, family and industry heavyweights alike.
Since the first Lagos state lockdown was announced and then extended,all Lagosians have been clamoring for is the day when the lockdown will finally be lifted. The good news is that the day has come (Lagos May 4th) but the bad news is Lagos does not look good.
If you’re home self-isolating like everyone should be doing, well done. Here’s a virtual tour of how other Lagosians are spending their time.
On one side we have people congregated on the roads paying tribute to traffic. The roads are packed with vehicles that are of course filled with people even though the government already put limitations on the capacity vehicles are allowed to carry. Everybody is just freestyling it. Lagos traffic =100000, Social distancing = 0.
Danfos are back on the road with business as usual (angry drivers, chill-less conductors. and vexed passengers). The long bus queues of people waiting to pack themselves into BRT’s are back too. Some of these people are not wearing masks and we only hope that they washed their hands before boarding the buses and after they alight because as we all know, COVID-19 did not come to play.
For some odd reason on the other hand people are rushing into banks. The result is a sea of bodies trying to force themselves in at the same time. Again, no social distancing here.
With all the evidence that people are totally not social distancing. Was it wise for Buhari to have lifted the lockdown? Will the number of Covid-19 casualties increase? Will “Lagos May 4th” morphe into our worst nightmare?
Over the last few days, Kano State in Northern Nigeria has been thrown repeatedly, into the throes of mourning. The latest loss is the life of Alhaji Tafida Abubakar, the Emir of the newly created Rano Emirate. He was 74 years old.
What led to the death of the Emir of Rano?
While the passing of the Emir comes at a time where the coronavirus is infecting hundreds across the country on a daily basis, with Kano itself recording a staggering loss of lives under uncertain circumstances — the Emirate Council in a tweet dismissed the idea, claiming the Emir had an illness unrelated to COVID-19.
According to the Council, following a visit to his medical doctor months ago, the Emir became sick with the commencement of the Ramadan fast.
Brief timeline of the passing of the Emir of Rano
On May 1st, Emir Abubakar was admitted at Mallam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for an undisclosed illness. He was later referred to the Nasarawa Specialist Hospital due to lack of oxygen, for further medical attention.
By May 2nd, he was declared dead.
His death came the same day as Malam Rabiu Kano’s – the head of communications for UNICEF in Kano. He is reported to have shown symptoms of the coronavirus. It also came one day before the passing of a senior member of the Kano Emirate Council – Jarman Kano, naming only two top officials affected by the recent loss of lives in Kano State.
The late Emir of Rano is survived by two wives and seventeen children. May he and the rest of the dearly departed rest in peace.
Access Bank lean measures may affect 75% of its staff.
All those lost jobs in the middle of this crisis. Security men, tea boys, cleaners.
The CEO offered to take a 40% pay cut.
I prefer not to speak.
People had this to say about the video:
I can’t deal.
Access Bank will hire Zlatan and pay him 10 Million just to come and scream "Ayiiiiiiiiiiiii" but then sack staff who graduated from tough Universities with First Class, staff that they were paying 75k. Let me hear anybody tell me that Education is the key again 😒
1. Access Bank started its restructuring much to the horror of the general public. Well, its for self-preservation.
Most banks have their fortunes tied to fluctuations in global oil prices considering that about a third of all credits they extend to the economy are directed to
In response to the video, the Central Bank released this circular:
No bank shall retrench or lay-off staff in any cadre:
Plug it to my veins. Whew.
Access Bank sha tried to do control damage and they said this:
The silver lining here is that Access Bank can’t take any action without the approval of the Central Bank. So, all we can do is wait and see what happens in the coming days. I surely hope they find an amicable middle ground for both business and employees.
While we wait, it’s important that we all keep safe and take all the necessary precautions needed to beat this virus. Stay at home if you can.
We are all in this together!
If you need to relax your mind away from stressful things, read the stack below:
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
Let’s face it. The world? Not looking so hot right now.
After suffering through months of several home-cooked meals, grainy zoom meetings and the perpetual fear that that cough was 100% your first symptom of the coronavirus, OMG call the NCDC careline! — countries all over the world are attempting the early phases of a re-opening of their respective economies with the physical resumption of workers to workspaces.
Ever one to feel among, Nigeria is also within this fold and will begin a gradual easing of the lockdown come May 4th Mark your calendars and take your immunity shots.
Because we’re all about silver linings and lowkey just want we to hear what everyone’s plans post-rona so we can steal the best ones for ourselves, (why is Boyin talking in first-person plural?), for a super short and sweet abroad life this week, we/I caught up with 4 Nigerians slumming the now ending lockdowns abroad, to hear all the super turnt plans they have once Miss Rona quite literally let’s go of our necks and respiratory systems.
Tinuke, California
I’ll be honest, I am so, so tired. And it’s not even a physical tiredness. I’m just over constantly waking up with this corona cloud over my head. Look, it might sound crazy, but the first thing I’ll do once this thing is finally over and (I’ve given it an extra two weeks at home to make sure the coast is really clear), I’m booking a flight to Nigeria. I miss my family and my friends so much.
Soon as I touch down like this, I’m rushing to a spa and I’m going to treat myself to a spa day every day of the week. Then I’ll head to one of those gentrified Nigerian restaurants in Lagos, get over priced amala and ponmo and feel alright with my life. I just need this to end.
Dexter, Ireland
Before the Coronavirus came and turned 2020 over on its head, I had made plans to visit Rome, Italy (haha) and Zurich, Switzerlandearly in the year.
I was planning on unveiling my beach body this year oh, but look at God. Instead, being an essential worker, I’m at work every day of the week, juggling my happiness at the security of having a developed country’s health options with the fear for my family and friends back in Nigeria. When this is over, I’ll take my trips and honestly just breathe a sigh of relief.
Jane, Ghana
I’m currently at home, very grateful for the fact that my workplace didn’t require us to resume work when Ghana announced it was relaxing the lockdown. This whole period is so scary and uncertain, the future is really the only thing o look forward to.
When this is all over, the very first thing I’m going to do is go to the beach. I miss the beach so much. Then my sister and I, we’ve lived in Ghana for many years, but we’ve never really explored the country. We have a plan to explore all 7 regions by 2022. We picked 2022 because really, there’s no telling when this will end.
Wuyi, Canada
I am done this period! I can’t wait to wake up in the morning, get in my car, and drive to work. I even miss physical work meetings and trying to stay awake in the really long ones.
When I finally get to see my gym? Let me not even get into that, I might get too emotional. Massage appointments, I miss my massage guy, Hyuh I hope you’re doing okay?
Look, more than anything, okay maybe not anything, but I really really just can’t wait for the FPL to start when this is all over. The Spanish League, Champions League, I cannot wait!
I’m really looking forward to all my friends sending me invites to parties and get-togethers. It won’t be like pre-corona where I never showed up because I was too busy doing nothing over the weekend. Invite me for everything when when this ends!
What are you looking forward to when the coronavirus is finally contained?
Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.
On April 28th, while many Nigerians were making those hilarious ass memes about the plans to ease the lockdown (how funny were those?), a bill to strengthen the powers of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (the organisation which has done commendable work in containing the spread of the coronavirus and Lassa fever in Nigeria) passed the second reading stage at the house of representatives.
The bill, sponsored by the speaker of the house of representatives – Femi Gbajabiamila, is intended to provide an appropriate framework for handling pandemic efforts. Therefore, should a variant of say the coronavirus, or lassa fever rear its head, this bill should ideally guide a quick-witted response to curbing its spread.
It will also empower the Nigerian police to arrest any and everybody rocking dreadlocks, watching a football match, returning from school etc — in furtherance of this motive.
Thanks to the very good work of David Hundeyin, a Nigerian journalist whose work has featured in CNN Africa, Business Day, The African Report, News Wire Nigeria etc, some of the rather worrying lapses in the Infectious Diseases Act, tagged the ‘NCDC bill’ by concerned Nigerians, have been brought to the fore.
The entirety of the bill is available here, but to have a quick peek at the most unsavoury proposed allowances, here are quick highlights:
The Director-General and the Minister of Health become really effing powerful
If you can correctly name Nigeria’s minister of health, you’re either a relative, studying for a big current affairs test or you probably work in media and communications. I could be wrong but whatever.
Now imagine this guy, whose name you probably don’t know, and whose office you had no real hand in voting into a reality, being able to declare your home, business, farm whatever, an isolation centre for the begs for clearer guidelines reason of “preventing the spread or possible outbreak of an infectious disease”.
This subsection also empowers the police or any health officer to arrest without warrant, any individual leaving said isolation centre.
Gee, I wonder if there’s a chance that this power will be abused by the police or the blank sheet of health workers now permitted to play good cop, bad cop with Nigerian freedoms.
The DG becomes really powerful, part deux
Imagine this. It’s ten years post-corona, you, family and some friends visiting from LA are holding a socially distant party outside your home. You’re about to tell the children present how we all had to walk 10 miles to get good cell reception during 2020s lockdown, when a health or police officer walks into your home and tells everyone they are not to leave the premises for the next 14 days because it ‘appeared’ to the DG of the NCDC that your gathering is likely to see the spread of an infectious disease.
Section 20 of the NCDC bill could allow that:
Nigerian Police: license to play health officers
Man, like the Nigerian police isn’t wreaking enough havoc, you want to give them powers to apprehend people for health issues too? Bruh.
Check section 24 out. E be tins.
Why does the Infectious Diseases Act want access to my super secret diary?
S 55 empowers the DG of the NCDC to acquire any document, book or record required for the investigation of any outbreak or suspected outbreak.
Wetin concern viral outbreak concern personal documents and data? So forget to right to privacy then?
Nigerian government…
You can read David Hundeyin’s breakdown of the bill here. What do you think of the proposed legislation?
Mubarak Bala, a Nigerian activist was just arrested. We’re here to tell you what we know. If you’re on any social platform (especially Twitter), you’ve probably seen the hashtag #FreeMubarakBala trending. Here are the facts:
1. Mubarak Bala is a Nigerian and he’s atheist:
A quick google search of irreligion in Nigeria will reveal this on Wikipedia. He was locked up in a mental health institution in 2014, after saying he didn’t believe in God.
2. He is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria
The Humanist Association Nigeria is an association that is pro the humanist movement, uniting a diversity of non-religious individuals.
He was arrested by two police officers who were not in uniform, at his residence. His arrest followed a petition by a group of lawyers to the Commissioner of Police in Kano State to prosecute him.
4. His crime? Blasphemy.
As seen in the petition above, he was arrested for insulting Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page.
Now we might not be experts at the law, but we’re pretty sure Blasphemy is not a criminal offence and that the Nigerian constitution in Section 38 entitles every Nigerian to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and in Section 39 gives every Nigerian the right to freedom of expression.
But what do we know?
Okay let’s break this down. 1. Blasphemy is a religious offence. 2. Religion is a matter of personal beliefs. 3. Our Constitution allows for freedom of speech, thought & expression. 4. Mubarak is not a Muslim & should not be subject to Sharia laws. #FreeMubarakBala
He is currently detained at the Gbabasawa Police Station in Kaduna, but there’s currently unconfirmed news that he’ll be transferred to Kano.
Hello, @PoliceNG you have endangered Mubarak's life and if you succeed in transferring him to Kano, you will be held responsible. These are the people that you should be arresting. There are several death threats online on his page everyday. #FreeMubarak#FreeMubarakBalapic.twitter.com/tZyL9Om0v5
6. Human Rights Activists everywhere have spoken up against his arrest:
Mubarak Bala, President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, and advisory board member of @iaatheists, has been arrested for blasphemy-for ‘insulting’ Islam’s prophet Muhammad on Facebook
— Yasmine Mohammed 🦋 ياسمين محمد (@YasMohammedxx) April 29, 2020
We condemn in the strongest terms the arrest of our humanist colleague @MubarakBala by the Nigerian authorities, who have accused him of 'blasphemy'. We join with the international humanist community in urging his immediate release. https://t.co/2OWEtcnnRT
Criminalising blasphemy under national laws rather than leaving it as a sin under personal beliefs is part of what Boko Haram stands for. Don't be like Boko Haram. #FreeMubarakBala
There are a few things I’ve never understood – how low-rise jeans ever became fashion statements, how Jim Iyke always wound up with an American accent regardless of what country he visited, how Elisha Abbo remains a senator, you get the picture.
Recently, a brand new entry has been scattering all of my brain – how the Nigerian government thinks easing a lockdown and imposing an 8PM – 6AM curfew will help in containing virus that isn’t even moderately close to being managed in Nigeria.
I mean sure, the economy can’t survive a prolonged lockdown. And many Nigerians rely on daily jobs to survive, but in the grander scheme of things, Nigeria does not have the capacity to care for the cases that are sure to multiply with an eased lockdown. It just didn’t make sense.
Unless…
It suddenly hit me, contrary to what you think, the Nigerian governemnt and regular Nigerians do not live within the same realities. In fact, after much thought, it occurred to me that while we’re thinking about multiplied numbers and the end of rocks as we know it, the Nigerian government is probably thinking about things in the following ways:
You might dispute this, but the Nigerian government is pretty sure the Coronavirus is nocturnal
That’s why the curfew is for 8PM – 6AM. After you’ll say your government doesn’t care about you.
You didn’t know this, but like our president, the coronavirus is notoriously shy
Those people that said the coronavirus doesn’t like heat, only got it a little wrong. According to the Nigerian government’s reasoning, light is it’s real nemesis
The virus is also very scared of packed bridges
Or that’s what the government probably thinks. Although, whether 3rd mainland bridge and all the other bridges will be free by 8PM is anybody’s guess.
Who wants to bet? The special sub-committee appointed to handle covid-19 affairs probably made the virus pinky promise (wearing gloves of course) that Nigerians would be safe between 6 AM and 8 PM when they’re out.
It would explain things if you think about it.
This lockdown ease is part of a grander government plan to get Nigerian families to spend more time together in the evenings.
This government, always planning ahead.
How do you think the government came about this plan to ease the lockdown?
Unless you had a boring, social media-free night on April 27th, you definitely heard about the Nigerian government’s plan to have a gradual ease of the lockdown, which has so far been in place for a little over a month.
Everybody has an opinion on this. Some think the government is right to open the economy again. Others believe this is a cop-out because it can no longer afford the palliative measures while the rest are convinced the government is in cahoots with Thanos to reduce Nigeria’s population by half.
We’ll let you all argue the reasoning behind easing the lockdown out, but we’re more interested in peeking into the minds of prople who will be directly affected by a lockdown ease starting May 4th. Here’s what different Nigerians are probably thinking about a lockdown ease:
The every day, sceptical Nigerian
Let me bend if my eyelash mistakenly leaves this house on May 4th. You and who wants to catch coro?
The Nigerian stuck in a hellish job
Before HR sends that ‘return to work’ email, should I just de-activate my email address? Maybe I should just form unlooking when it comes.
Nigerians that commute to work in public transportation
Will I be shouting ‘social distancing’ when someone tries to give me their baby inside the bus? Which kain problem?
Policemen on curfew duty
How much will I charge for after-curfew ‘anything for the boys’ oh? Is ₦5000 too much? This one that economy is hard…
Pastors that do usually perform ‘miracles’
Let everybody’s head be correct oh. Nobody should bring any ‘patient’ for me to heal. Everybody has the one that is doing them.
Tailors ready to cash out
Finally, I can use all this ankara my customers ‘forgot’ with me in December.
Nigerian governors that came into office specifically to flex
Which one is pandemic crisis management now? It’s travel I came to travel, wuzzaldis?
What do you think about the plans to ease the lockdown?
This is in line with the President’s decision to ease the lockdown that has been on for four weeks. Starting 4th of May, we are to be indoors between 8pm and 6am every day.
Perhaps, it’s the fact that this decision sounds so ridiculous and quite unlikely to solve the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. OR maybe it’s because Nigerians need to joke about everything and anything in order to cope. Whatever it is, there have been several wild reactions to the curfew in Nigeriaand we’re here to give you the best of the best reactions.
My own question is: did people already see the curfew in Nigeria coming and plan these jokes and save these memes? I’m not complaining though, I having a good laugh. But on a real though, there’s a curfew in Nigeria starting 4th of May. Please stay safe.
The Lockdown in Nigeria (Lagos, Ogun and FCT) has been on for almost 4 weeks. Tonight, Buhari addressed Nigerians on the next steps. It was long, but we’re here to break it down for you.
The short story: The lockdown in Nigeria – Lagos, Ogun and Abuja – remain in place until May 4th, 2020. From then on, there will a gradual easing of lockdown measures.
Let’s start with the overnight curfew:
The President declared that there will be an overnight curfew from 8pm to 6am. All movement will be prohibited during this period except for “essential services”.
Interstate passenger travel is banned till further notice:
No, you can’t quickly run to Ibadan and come back, except it is an essential travel. Interstate movement of goods and services will be allowed to an extent.
Don’t you dare travel.
Face masks have become super important.
So in addition to all you know about maintaining social distance, washing your hands, and just being a good ol’ clean chap, you’re to wear face masks when in public.
Nope, you cannot still go to church or to the mosque or to the CLUB.
Don’t start ironing your party wear yet because social and religious gatherings are still restricted.
OHHH – and before we forget, all of these do not apply to Kano.
Only God knows what’s going on there, but the President in his infinite wisdom has declared that enforcement of a total lockdown for a period of two weeks, effective immediately.
We don’t know if any parts of Buhari’s speech on the Lockdown in Nigeria feel like good news or bad news to you. The important thing though, is for you to stay super safe – take all the necessary precautions, stay home if you have to. We’re going to beat this, okay?
PSA: This is a virtual hug. e love you, but we don’t take risks.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
Imagine starting a new chapter of your life away from all the friends and family you know and grew up with. Now imagine four months into that, a deadly pandemic hits, with largely yourself to rely on to weather it out.
On Abroad Life, Aanu talks about school life in South Africa and weathering the coronavirus out, one pot of jollof rice at a time.
Because I’m overly dramatic, let’s swap war stories. When was the last time you went out during the lockdown and how differently was it from the usual scenario you’re used to?
That was I think … three Fridays ago? So April 3rd. I went grocery shopping. Now, before the virus hit, Saturdays, weekends were grocery days, especially where there are free bus services from hostels to Rosebank Mall, this popular mall in South Africa. You can imagine how busy it usually gets.
The last time though, there were shoppers in masks, the security guards only permitted five people at a time to enter the mall, there was social distancing. You had to sanitise your hands before entering, you had to sanitise the trolley handlebars too. It was a lot.
I see. Mine was three weeks ago as well. Imay have cracked the side of my curtain open three weeks ago to get a peek outside. It’s not me Corona will catch with its side-eyes.
Anyway, how come you’re living in South Africa and not getting room temperature amala delivered to your doorstep like the rest of us in Nigeria?
Well, I came here in January 2020 for school. I’m getting my Masters in Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Witswatersand, South Africa.
Also, amala is unnecessary. I’d ban it.
Sacrilege!
Anyway, I’m dying to talk about anything but the coronavirus. So please tell us the fascinating process involved in getting into journalism school in South Africa.
The process started in, I want to say June last year. I was still freelancing for CNN….
Ayyy. Okay Mr. Big Shot Journalist
Ugh. Ignoring you. So someone sent a scholarship opportunity to me and told me my name was pretty much written on it. The scholarship was courtesy the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation. I decided to apply in the first week of July. After the scholarship interview, I had to apply to the school proper. Hm. That was where problem started.
Uh-oh
So if you’re coming to South Africa with a foreign degree, a body called the South African Qualifications Authority has to grade your degree to determine where it falls in the South African grading system.
Wait wait. A body grades your final university grade before you can study in South Africa. Can somebody please @ASUU in this chat?
Exactly! And you have to be very patient with these people, if you’re from Nigerian University, good luck. So SAQA sent an email to my alma-matter, OAU, asking for confirmation that I actually went there.
It took OAU two days to reply, only to say that I needed to pay money to get the confirmation that I schooled there. I paid that money within like ten minutes of getting the email. Tell me why it took OAU one month to finally send the result, and why it was a wrong result they finally sent after all the stress?
Wow. There’s drama, suspense, some university betrayal. I love this story!
Anyway, the whole process was completed in December. Let’s just pretend it didn’t take almost three months to get it over and done with.
Hmm. E be tins. So,I know you’ve only been there 4 months, but what were your first impressions of South Africa?
Funny you should ask, because my first impressions of South Africa were formed within my first few hours after landing.
Spill!
So I landed in South Africa at 1:25 AM becauseASKY, the airline my travel agent advised me to take, had a stop over at Douala, Cameroun. We were on the tarmac for like 45 minutes. Anyway, all that didn’t matter because when I did land at South Africa, someone was waiting for me with a big sign that had my name on it! It was my travel agent’s husband. No one ever comes to pick me at the airport, I liked it you know!
Aww. A little South African rom-com
Haha. So it was morning, I had just gotten off a long flight. All I wanted to do was get to my student accommodation and sleep. Only thing is, the security guard at the hostel wasn’t having it. According to him, the person that held the keys to my room was asleep and I’d have to stay over at the common room until 8 the next day when he’d be awake. This guy refused to budge!
No way!
Yes oh. Thankfully, my travel agent’s husband has a big heart. He let me into his home to spend the night and I was on my way the next day. So my first impression was, here is an asshole in front of me, making things hard when they really don’t need to be and then there’s this stranger. Kind to me when he didn’t have to.
I knew South Africa was going to be a mix of things.
Hmm. Got it, glad that turned out okay.
But now you’ve lived there for a bit, what are some of the things you’ve loved about life in South Africa?
You know, I have to say the school life.
*Speak like your mom’s listening*
No really! Anyone that schooled in Nigeria needs to study abroad so you’ll know they’re teaching dust here. Now I might be speaking from a place of privilege, because my school is a top 200 school globally. But it just goes to show, what counts as an elite school in Nigeria? Covenant?
*Hands on head emoji*
When you get here, there are no pedestals for lecturers. A lot of my professors are over 60. People that have done journalism longer than I’ve been alive. There’s a woman in her 70s, she’s been active for like 50 years and we call her by her first name. There is no ‘lecturer is coming, let me scramble to carry their books’. Zero eye-service nonsense. Most of our classes are informal, we just discuss. There is a lot of back and forth and less dictating. There’s order as well. You get emailed your class schedule.
I’m listening to this and it’s so basic, but so unattainable over here
Like! It’s basic, but we don’t have it. And no shade to SA, But like, if SA can get it right, why can’t we?
Big talk!
Oh, I forgot another first impression I got here. They smoke like crazy. Lunch breaks, no lunch breaks, they are puffing. It was a little jarring to me as a non-smoker
Again *speak like your mom’s watching*
So before the coronavirus came and ruined things, how did you see the South African night life?
See, this corona fucked me over! I spent my first few weeks here laying low. By the third week in February, I had a list of places I wanted to go to. I linked up with my friend who had been here five years, joined the lists and started knocking them off one by one. I had like 12 spots to go to. And those were just bars and restaurants, not even counting the museums or other places to sightsee. I hit like three spots, and that was it. Corona really got me. But from the little I’ve seen, the South African night life is dope!
Got it, since we’re already on coronavirus. When Covid-19 first started making rounds, did you think it would get this serious?
So there are two parts to this answer. I started following updatesearlier than most people because my whole life is news apps notifications. By January, I was closely following it, but I’ll be honest I thought it was someone else’s problem. When they locked down Wuhan, I was thinking why would they lock people inside? This could never work in New York.
Hardy har har
When it started affecting Nigeria with oil prices in February, I was in South Africa, I knew it was serious. By the first week in March, I had stopped all unnecessary contact. I still went for a date sha.
See your love-life on the streets!
Dey there. By mid-March, South Africa already had its first case. One minute you’re chilling, the next, your school is sending emails that it is going on an early recess and everyone has to go home, except the international students.
We only resumed classes online this week.
Crazy. And how has the government reacted so far?
I don’t know about every other aspect of his governance, but President Cyril has been so effective in handling the coronavirus. He communicates clearly, his office communicates clearly. This guy isn’t hiding behind any twitter threads.
He has held maybe 5,6 live addresses. You also know when he will speak to you. The last address, they told us days before, and this is the order things take. You always know what to expect.
*SSAs to the Nigerian government have left the chat*
Yeah, he just announced that we’ll be leaving lockdown in 5 stages and the processes for each are so clearly outlined, it’s ridiculous!
God whenst and under whomst?
That said, how’s lockdown treating you?
Hmm. Well obviously, I’m lonely and worried about my friends and family in Nigeria. I toyed with the idea of returning to Nigeria when the virus hit, but then I thought about my health in the hands of the Nigerian or the South African care system and decided to take my chances.
These shots you are firing today sha…
Only facts. One thing about this lockdown though, I’ve learnt that I can actually cook. Before, I couldn’t take onions. Now, I can’t even eat noodles without green peppers, and onions. I’ve gone from spending like ten minutes cooking noodles, to one hour.
I cooked my first jollof rice. My friend in Lagos was teaching me over the phone, I’m now a jollof rice guru. I’ve also been watching a lot of Sisi Yemmie. So it isn’t all bad.
Yay to silver linings. At least food is keeping you occupied
Well, there’s that and my job. As part of my scholarship, I’ve been working with this paper called Mail and Guardian. I have a one-month contract to be a staff writer, so I have been busy as hell if I’m being honest.
Got it! So what’s the plan after the lockdown is lifted and your Masters is done and dusted?
You know, if you had asked me this when I first landed South Africa, I’d have told you how I plan to return to Nigeria. That answer doesn’t apply anymore! Nigeria is in my rearview mirror, good day, good bye!
Wow, wow. What a betrayed!
Yeah, now I’m looking for opportunities for a post-brexit UK or something in Australia. But Nigeria? No, God forbid. (His literal words)
Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.
As we may remember, Maryam Sandawas convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, for the murder of her husband – Bilyaminu Bello, in January 2020.
With overwhelming evidence and the corroboration of a violent streak by a friend of Bello’s — he witnessed a vicious marital spat the day of the killing — Maryam Sanda’s conviction appeared open and shut.
So why then, is word recently spreading, of a potential presidential pardon granted to her in the early weeks of April 2020?
Is Maryam Sanda A Free Woman?
A known member of Nigeria’s one percent — her father, a past executive director of Aso Savings Bank. It was widely believed that the Sanda family influence would again, have guaranteed her presence within a favoured number: the 70 inmates of the Medium Security Custodial Centre granted presidential pardon on April 9th.
But, as the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) confirmed on April 16th, Maryam Sanda was not granted a presidential pardon, and would, in fact, remain in custody.
The NCoS described the assumptions of Sanda’s pardon as: “fake, very unrealistic and an attempt to rubbish the good intention of the President towards decongesting the custodial centres.”
Maryam Sanda has appealed the judgement that saw her conviction and is awaiting the court’s determination of the matter.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
For weeks in April 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, sure to change the world as we know it — black immigrants in Guangzhou China, with a seeming majority being Nigerians, were the subjects of relentless attacks that saw them barred from fast-food chains, hotels and even their homes.
We spoke with an anonymous source living in China, but away from the points of the attack. He speaks on usual life in China as a black man, and his opinions on the injustice the immigrants had to face. Here’s what he had to say:
This question is divided into two parts. First, what was your impression of China before you moved to the country?
Honestly, and this is one thing I pride myself on: being honest, being real — I was prepared for a China that was racist to foreigners but incredibly so to black foreigners. I had spent hours back in Nigeria, watching the videos of a Ghanaian content creator. He was always very vocal about the racist treatment he had been subjected to in China, so I was ready for the worst and determined to adapt. What I met was a little … different.
That’s very interesting. Before we get to the second half of that question, how is it that you came to live in China?
Hmm, about this. I’ve been a student in China for two years now. On my first attempt to process admission to a University here, I was swindled by a Nigerian friend. Like, my own guy oh. I don’t talk about it. But yes, that happened.
Oh wow, I’m so sorry about that
Well, that’s in the past anyway. After getting over it, the application process itself wasn’t very hard. I went to Abuja, followed the usual procedure. I had my documents ready, especially my admission letter and the JW202 form from the university, which I took to the Ministry of Education. After that, I presented myself to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more documentation. All of that wasn’t complicated. Once you have a valid letter of admission, it’s a seamless procedure.
Got it. So in the two years since you’ve lived in China, what has changed about your original impression about the country?
Good. Remember how I said I expected it to be incredibly racist? Just take that ‘incredibly’ out. I have experienced first-hand racism. No doubt. I’ve jumped into a bus and watched everyone on the row I was leaning towards, stand up and switch seats to avoid being close to me.
My goodness. I can’t even imagine how that must have made you feel.
See you! Small thing. When a black person enters a Chinese establishment, you might hear something that sounds like ‘hay rain’, which is a very drerogatory way of saying ‘black person’. White people also get theirs, they’ll hear something ‘bey rain’. It’s better or maybe worse for me because I speak some Chinese, and these people are very vocal. They will outrightly insult you standing next to them because they believe you don’t understand.
When I call them out on it, they’re always quick to apologise, but the damage is already done. This is a very, very common thing that happens.
Oh no!
But then again, I’ve also been on a bus where a Chinese person stood for me so I could have a chair to sit on, I have a lot of kind-hearted friends who have shown me nothing but generosity. It isn’t the extreme, very hateful scenario I was prepared for, and it might be because China is opening up more and more to the outside world.
I hear that. We’ve spoken to a Nigerian who had only positives to say about China. But every so often, we hear about the ill-tratment black immigrants face, so it’s hard to be sold on it. What encounters have you had with the Chinese that changed your impression of the country?
Let me start with this so you get an idea of what the Chinese are like. You know how a foreigner comes to Nigeria and immediately, Nigerian brains stop working and they make that person a small god?
Good. Just forget that one here. I have a lot of Chinese friends and I interact with a lot of Chinese people, so let me state one thing – they will pick their own over a foreigner ten times over. When it comes to black people, Africans in particular, it doesn’t help that their impression of us is completely wrong.
How is that possible?
Baidu.
Excuse me?
It’s the Chinese version of Google and everyone uses it here. The Chinese are scattered in many rural parts of Africa. I’m talking about the places with mud houses, untarred roads, and very traditional African people. These Chinese people upload videos about life in ‘rural Africa’ and become almost overnight sensations.
The videos are extremely popular in China and when they search on anything about Africans on Baidu, these videos pop up. They contribute to the wrong mindset the Chinese have about black people present in their country.
I have to say, what I’m hearing is, the Chinese may be intolerant of cultures different from theirs
And that’s correct. I won’t argue with that. But I always try to be balanced and find some logic in things. You asked about what changed my impression of the Chinese, it was interacting with them. Easy example, while Covid-19 was building up in January, I spent the Chinese New Year with my friend and his family. He lives in a very remote village. I was the first foreigner in almost 50 years to visit and maybe the only black person to have ever visited and they showed me nothing but love.
You must have felt very welcome
I did. I was constantly getting invitations to eat at this house and that house. They allowed me and a group of locals, man the village entrance and perform temperature checks to prevent the virus from coming into the village. Beyond that, I have teachers, friends, class mates that are welcoming. A lot of them are enlightened and actually will not stand for racism.
Let me tell you something.
What’s that?
When I was leaving for my friend’s place, a lot of people told me, warned me, that if I left, I’d be another foreigner that disappeared.
Wait, what? Foreigners disappearing is routine?
Look, the Chinese government is like god here. Their words are yea and amen. There are cameras everywhere and they lave laws that, see — just do yourself a favour and don’t break them.
Laws against drug trafficking, drug consumption, obey them. You do not want to know what’s on the end of disobedience.
I see. This is incredibly chilling, I have to say
I can’t speak for all cases of missing foreigners. But there have been situations where known drug dealers, dealing in hashish (cannabis) have been arrested publicly, never to be heard from again. These things happen routinely, but hardly ever to those that are law-abiding. This explains the fear of everyone that I informed of my travel intentions. Back then, I was probably more worried about the virus.
Hm. There are grey areas, certainly. But you seem to be quite confident in the system, so hopefully, that speaks to something.
You mentioned the coronavirus. Like the rest of the world, China is observing the measures required to keep it at bay. Can you paint a picture of the country, red and war-ready in the weeks when the virus hit hardest?
You know what’s funny? If you had been watching Chinese TV in those weeks, you’d never have guessed a pandemic was building up. There were celebrations, big ones on TV. Galas held, Jackie Chan performed a big show. Everything here is censored. The only sign something was brewing on TV were these announcements saying : ” 中国加油 – zhong guo jia you”
“武汉加油 – Wuhan Jia you”
What do these mean?
They were saying ‘China cheer up’, ‘Wuhan cheer up, we’ll fight this’. But that’s not to say nothing was done. China was on lockdown during those periods, Wuhan was completely locked down, while the rest of China on restricted movement.
Thousands of Kenyan and African workers are now racially discriminated in Guangzhou #China. They are kicked out of their houses and forced to sleep on streets in chilly nights, with no food and water. They are even denied access to supermarkets. pic.twitter.com/psnTttFhCy
Like I said, I spent the time at my friend’s village, but when I returned to my city, after passing the borders and having tempersture checks, no outsiders were let into my university.
I live in student accommodation and would have been stranded if a friend of mine who returned to his country to weather the virus out, didn’t offer up his place for me to live. Before you ask, the university closure applied to everyone that returned when it was locked down. I wasn’t targeted.
That’s good to know and it’s incredibly fortunate that you had someone to fall back on. Let’s speak on the black immigrants that unfortunately, didn’t have it so easy. What do you think sparked the attacks we’ve been seeing all over social media?
First, I’ll say I don’t live in Guangzhou where the attacks happened, so I’m speaking as an observer, just like everybody else. Guangzhou is heavily populated with black people, mostly Nigerians who come in here to do business.
Understood
As I mentioned in the beginning, I like to be real and I like to be honest. Racism is nothing new to China, it’s almost accepted as a necessary evil here. I can’t understand the ‘why’ of the attacks.
How do you mean?
I’m trying to word this so my point gets across clearly. It isn’t clear to me why this level of hate happened, and I wish we could somehow piece it together, so a repeat never happens again. There were rumours that black people were introducing a new kind of coronavirus, then there was the story that a black person attacked a nurse, none of those were exactly proven. It beats my understanding.
As it should, making sense of hate is difficult
But here’s another thing, and this didn’t get enough attention. Nigerians and black immigrants weren’t the only foreigners targeted. There was a video going round of Russians and other caucasian nationalities being deprived entry into Chinese establishments. The thing is, and this is my perspective again — because China was getting new cases from mostly foreign nationals, they were attempting to limit exposure to foreigners who had fresh entry into the country. The Chinese that challenged the attacks and gave warm blankets and aid to the affected also didn’t get much publicity.
I understand that. But that doesn’t explain Nigerian tenants being evacuated from their homes after payments were already made, or Nigerians already living in hotels being asked to leave for no just reason
I can’t argue with that, it was racism from the beginning. I just wanted to examine things from all sides, I believe in giving the benefit of the doubt always. My story would probably have been different if I were in the center of events and had all of the facts. I just try to steer clear of sensationalism.
Of course. But sometimes in the face of overwhelming evidence, it’s difficult to not pick obvious sides. Being present in China, are you aware of the situation of Nigerians in Guangzhou currently?
From what I’ve heard, and from what has made the rounds on social media, those affected by the attacks have been compensated. I heard apologies have been issued and goodwill provisions been made. All of that by the Chinese. Do you know what the Nigerian government offered to do for Nigerians stuck in China?
No, do tell
Hm. Look at this.
And I can speak authoritatively on this because I’m a Nigerian student and this was shared to my group. The government offered to evacuate us from China, on the condition that we cover the cost of our transit.
Wait, what?
Exactly that. I have no idea what an evacuation where you pay the full costs of your travel means, but maybe one day the government will explain. That’s how involved the Nigerian government has been with Nigerians currently stuck in China with the virus.
This clip of a Nigerian diplomat standing up for Nigerians in China has raised my hopes for Africa. pic.twitter.com/Jx2rxHWY9z
Disappointed but not surprised. Speaking of the virus, how have you been managing it? Has the Chinese government offered any aid to you as an inhabitant?
I did get some assistance, but it was by virtue of me being a foreign student. The Chinese government paid me 500 RMB, which is around ₦28,000. I don’t think every foreign inhabitant got that payment. Every day, I have to send my teachers my temperature reading without fail, so the government keeps tabs on my health. I buy food from neighbouring stores and I’m pretty much self-sufficient.
Got it! Please continue to stay safe. Do you have any plans for life in China when the virus is contained?
I mean, the future is so uncertain. Right now, I’m just focused on improving my Chinese. You know China is so well developed, even in the remote village where I was so far away from everyone, there was WiFi, the roads were fantastic, electricity was constant. It’s a convenient life here, I’m just taking things as they go
Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.
What is a “Covid-19 Nigeria update“? We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the Covid-19, both in Nigeria and Africa.
Confirmed Cases In Nigeria from the past 24 hours:
Yesterday, the NCDC confirmed 34 new cases in Nigeria. This means that as of April 15, 2020, there are 407 confirmed cases in Nigeria.
Here’s what we know:
There are 232 confirmed cases in Lagos.
In Abuja, there are 58 cases.
Osun has 20 cases.
Kano went from 4 cases to 16 cases in 24 hours.
There are 15 confirmed cases in Edo, 11 confirmed cases in Oyo.
All the other states have less than 10: 9 in Ogun, 7 in Katsina, 6 in Bauchi, 6 in Kaduna, 6 in Akwa Ibom, 4 in Kwara, 4 in Delta, 3 in Ondo, 2 in Enugu, 2 in Ekiti, 2 in Rivers, 2 in Niger, 1 in Benue and 1 in Anambra.
Because it’s important to arm yourself with good news in order to reduce fear and anxiety, here’s some good news for you: out of 407 total confirmed cases, 128 people have now been discharged – a lot more people are beating Covid-19 than dying from it. But that’s not all.
In case you missed it:
The NCDC has been working hard to expand their testing capacity. As of March 29,, there were 6 labs in Nigeria with Capacity to test for Covid-19. Today, there are 13 labs. There are labs in Maiduguri, Kano, Kaduna Jos, Abuja, Sokoto, Ibadan, Osun, Lagos, Edo, Port Harcourt, Ebonyi and 2 are already being worked on. Here’s more information.
Africa
In the past 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases have gone from 16,355 total cases to 17,450 total cases. The number of recoveries is also steadily increasing.
Pro-tip of the day:
You know what spreads faster than the virus itself? Fake news and panic. Find only verified and useful information to help you navigate this season here. You can get some of the information here.
What is a “Covid-19 Nigeria update“? We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the Covid-19, both in Nigeria and Africa.
Before we get into the Covid-19 Nigeria update for the day, here’s an important update from NCDC on the use of face masks.
Yesterday, April 14, 2020, the NCDC issued an advisory guiding Nigerians on the use of face masks to prevent Covid-19. In the advisory, you’ll find how to use masks properly. Here’s what they said:
You can wear masks as an optional added layer of physical distancing while in crowded settings like markets.
Elderly people with preexisting medical conditions can wear masks.
Used masks should be disposed properly.
Do not frequently touch the mask as this can increase risk of infection.
Medical masks should only be worn by patients and healthcare workers who need them more.
Globally, there’s a mask shortage, so we can improvise by using cloth masks – as long as they are washed regularly.
You can get more in-depth information here. Meanwhile, this “beaded mask” does not fall into the category of masks that the NCDC recommends.
20-year-old first class Anatomy graduate of Delta State University, Ishicheli Grace Kenechi is making face masks with beads after observing that some people find it hard to breathe with the popular face masks. Isn't this innovative? #LegitStories#payusviaBVN#coronaviruspic.twitter.com/9niWuFlP8Z
— Legit.ng | Leading the way (@legitngnews) April 14, 2020
Now for the numbers:
Covid-19 Nigeria Update from the past 24 hours:
On April 14, 2020, 30 additional cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Nigeria, with 25 of those cases coming from Lagos. By 9:21 yesterday, the NCDC initially recorded 19 cases with the following breakdown:
However, 11 more cases were recorded in Lagos by 11pm yesterday, increasing the total cases in Nigeria to 373 and the total cases in Lagos to 214. According to the Lagos State Ministry of Health, here’s a breakdown of cases according to LGA.
Africa.
On a larger scale, things are looking hopeful in Africa. On the 14th of April, 2020, there 2944 recoveries. Today, there are 3,227 recoveries. To find out more about the cases, recoveries and deaths in different countries in Africa, visit Coronafacts.africa.
“Vitamin C prevents Covid-19” – Today’s myth.
There’s no proof that vitamin C will prevent Covid-19 as of today. While things are constantly changing, it is important to wait for official sources, rather than peddle or engage in sharing rumors and misinformation.
Today’s Pro Tip:
Staying indoors can feel like a burden. So it’s important to stay active by stretching, working out and eating healthy meals.
Extras:
Yesterday, we mentioned the unrest in Lagos. Well, we spoke to a few people who had been affected by it and here’s what they said. And if you think you hate the lockdown extension, well, you haven’t met these set of people who absolutely detest it.
Living in Lagos is stressful. Very stressful. It’s even three times more stressful under lockdown when you add the fear of getting robbed to the mix. Recently, some parts of Lagos have experienced a surge in crime rates and this has triggered a range of emotions in people. From sadness to anger, to helplessness.
We spoke to some people and they shared their experience.
Dele, 76.
“I live in Gowon Estate. On 11 Road. I am a retired Navy commander and I haven’t been able to sleep in two days. I have lived in this place for over 25 years and it has been relatively peaceful. At least compared to Navy town where I was coming from. So, imagine my shock when two nights ago, I kept on hearing gunshots. I quickly went to check that I had locked all the doors and then cut off the power supply. I was not going to take any chance. It’s just me and my 72-year-old wife in the house. I am not even worried about me, I am scared of what they can do to my wife. I am too old for all this worrying.”
Tobi, 27.
“I don’t live in Nigeria but tell me why this robbery is affecting me. I keep worrying about my parents in the house. See, I don’t have faith in the authorities to keep my people safe. Is it not these same bastards that harassed my dad last month? I sent him some dollars for him to use to hold body and soul together. On his way from the bank, police accosted him and collected it all from him. He didn’t want any trouble so he just let it go. I was so mad – those fuckers took all my hard-earned money. So, how can I trust the police to keep my parents safe? At this point, it’s just Insha Allah and plenty of calls to check-in. The timing is just fucked up. I don’t have the mental energy to deal with this right now.”
Ekene, 25.
“I woke up today to the sound of curses in Yoruba. The gist is that someone (probably an insider) robbed another person’s flat in the compound next to mine. They cleaned out the person’s plasma TV and generator. So, the victim woke up this morning and started sending them curses. It’s just weird because I live in Mushin. It’s suicide to steal here. I keep wondering what will push someone to steal inside Mushin.
I live on the third floor so I think I am safe. Sha, to be safe, I will lock up my laptop and phone before sleeping. It’s not like I am scared oh, I just don’t like stories that touch. I can’t afford to replace any gadget as I am.”
Abiola, 24.
“My dad used to wake me up to pray every day by 3 am. However, these days, he doesn’t need to. Because I don’t sleep. I am too scared to sleep. My dad and brother are part of the vigilante group, so my mum and I stay up all night waiting for them to come back home.
God forbid that something happens to them. I can’t sleep. I can’t pray. I just wait up feeling very useless. I just wish there was something I could do to help them. All the options that come to mind sound like it will just slow them down.
Gani, 60.
“Oh, there are robberies going on? I no longer listen to the news so I don’t know what’s going on. My area is still a little bit calm. I live in Fadeyi and the people that do this robbery probably go from here to other places for their operations. I mean the only thing the boys here do is fight and smoke. They can’t actually rob close to home. I literally raised some of them. If anyone steals my property, I will just go to their mother’s house and knock their door. We kuku all know each other.”
Pelumi, 26.
“My worst fear is that thieves will collect my car from me. I am an essential worker so I still go to work every day. Free roads can be considered as empty roads free of people depending on the angle you are coming from. I live in Yaba but I work around Egbeda. I am just scared that I will run into one of the gangs because I leave work late.
I bought a cutlass and put it in my car. But between me and you, if it comes down to it, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I am just waiting for borders to re-open. If not for Corona, I should be in Canada by now. My P.R came just before this whole thing started. It seems like a bad dream.”
In a rare sighting, our now grounded travel vlogger president addressed the country read from a sheet of paper and gave Nigerians updates concerning the coronavirus.
The address told us a bunch of things we already suspected. The lockdown would be extended for another two weeks, its extension is a matter of life and death and it was all for the good of the country. We get it, we’re not mad at that.
However, the speech did leave us with some grey areas we’ll be needing some non-tele-prompted assistance with. If anyone has the president’s number, please send him these questions to answer.
What about the security challenges facing Lagos and Ogun State?
Actually, the security challenges to the whole country. Keeping the population on lockdown, where the majority live below the poverty line, is asking them to extend that line and play hopscotch with their morality and well being.
What’s going to happen to the remaining under privileged people living in Nigeria?
President Buhari informed us that an additional one million homes would be covered by the social investment program, bringing 3.6 million households under the president’s palliative measures. One big problem, Nigeria’s poor comes in at over one hundred million. What happens to the rest?
Are these the palliative measures the additional one million additional Nigerians will stretch for the next two weeks?
Finally received our relief package from the government. Really thankful for the huge package. It’s going to last my family of five for at least a month. Really thoughtful of them. Amazing work pic.twitter.com/8LT8UEIx76
What is a “Covid-19 Nigeria update“? We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the Covid-19, both in Nigeria and Africa.
Before we get into the Covid-19 Nigeria update for the day, here’s a rundown of all the important things President Buhari said in his address to Nigerians yesterday, April 13, 2020.
You’ll recall that on March 29, about 14 days ago, President Buhari ordered a lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT. Well, the president addressed the country again and announced the extension of the lockdown in Lagos state, Ogun state and FCT by two more weeks. Other than that, here are the other things he said:
We need to make sacrifices to limit the spread of Covid-19
The level of compliance to the Covid-19 guidelines have been good across Nigeria.
In the first 14 days of the lockdown, the nation was able to implement comprehensive public health measures and intensified testing, identification and so much more.
Testing capacity is at 1,500 tests per day.
7000 healthcare workers have been trained in infection prevention and control.
1000 patients can be admitted in several treatment centers in Lagos and Abuja.
Now that land and airport borders have been closed, the number of rising cases are mostly person-to-person contact.
He has signed the Quarantine order.
The government has put on palliative measures such as food distribution and cash transfers.
Covid-19 is not a joke.
You can find more details on his speech here:
Fellow Nigerians,
In my address on Sunday, 29th March, 2020, I asked the residents of Lagos and Ogun States as well as the Federal Capital Territory to stay at home for an initial period of fourteen days starting from Monday, 30th March 2020.
The numbers in Nigeria have been on a steady increase. As of March 17, 2020 – almost a month ago – there were only three cases but as of today, April 14, 2020, there are 343 confirmed cases. Thankfully, 91 people have been discharged. Unfortunately, there have been 10 deaths. In the last 24 hours, the NCDC reports that there are 20 new cases:
NCDC also provided Covid-19 Nigeria update on the states where Covid-19 is present. Currently, it is present in 20 out of 36 states. Here’s a rundown of the numbers:
On a bigger African scale, how are we doing?
According to new reports yesterday, April 13, 2020, Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire Bill Gates said that if the world does not act fast enough, then there will be dead bodies all over the streets of Africa. While she might have said this in good fate, it easily doesn’t come off as a statement made out of concern. Especially since the data confirms that Africa is fairing better than a few other continents.
According to Coronafacts.africa, there are 15,413 cases in Africa. See below:
African leaders are doing their best to enforce social distancing, lockdowns and isolation in their countries.
Today’s dilemma or palava (or whatever you choose to call it):
Unrest in Lagos and Ogun state have increased in the past few days with armed robbers going from community to community, robbing houses, killing and raping people. If there’s any correlation to the lockdown, we can’t exactly pinpoint yet. However, it is happening and Nigerians are afraid that in addition to the fear of getting Covid-19, there’s the fear of being robbed. We do hope that the government addresses it and implements security measures to put it in control ASAP.
Drinking Pepper Soup With Lime Or Lemon Will Flush Out The Virus: Myth or Fact?
Definitely Myth. If you have a Nigerian parent, uncle or aunty, you may have come across this or a similar “cure” . While Pepper has anti-oxidants and lemon and lime contain high amounts of Vitamin – and all three are generally good for the body – there is NO EVIDENCE to support that they will flush out the virus in someone that has been infected.
Today’s Pro tip:
In the words of a wise man, “This is no joke”. Do not peddle wrong information and stay at home. It’s only for a short time. We will beat this.
Stay updated:
Head over to Zikoko’s brand new site www.coronafacts.africa for the latest and factual news on the efforts against Coronavirus.
Meanwhile…
Read how a Nigerian couple is coping with the lockdown after postponing their wedding due to Covid-19 and how one Nigerian nurse in the frontlines is brave enough to wake up every day, go to work and help fight this Covid-19.
Remember, when you come back tomorrow by 12 pm, we’ll have a new Covid-19 Nigeria update with fresh insights and good news for you.
We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the Covid-19, both in Nigeria and Africa.
Nigeria’s Update from the past 24 hours:
As of yesterday, 12/04/2020, these are the number of reported cases in Nigeria.
Five new cases of #COVID19 have been reported as follows:
2 in Lagos 2 in Kwara 1 in Katsina
As at 09:10 pm 12th April there are 323 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. 85 have been discharged with 10 deaths
We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the COVID-19, both in Nigeria and Africa.
Nigeria’s Update from the past 24 hours:
As of yesterday, 9/04/2020, these are the number of reported cases in Nigeria.
Fourteen new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 13 in Lagos and 1 in Delta State
As at 09:30 pm 9th April there are 288 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Fifty-one have been discharged with seven deaths pic.twitter.com/DuP2SGUiTy
Compared to yesterday, the discharge stats are encouraging.
Africa’s Stats:
Visit www.coronafacts.africa for the latest updates on the fight against Corona in Africa.
Today’s dilemma:
As part of the efforts by the Nigerian Government to stop the spread of COVID-19, is there going to be a nationwide lockdown? We’ll know after the meeting today with President Buhari.
The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
The grass always looks greener on the other side. For many Nigerians who leave or plan to leave the country in search of higher education, job opportunities, welfare, closeness with family etc, that saying just might as well be tramp stamped, peeking just a little as they bend to weigh their bags at check-in.
That said, these countries aren’t always what they seem (okay, maybe they are 85% of the time, but still). We asked 7 Nigerians their least favourite things about living abroad, and this is what they had to say:
Hungary – Erutay
Erutay moved to Hungary for work, with some help from the good guys over at AIESEC. She has since learnt to love a lot about Hungary, agonist everything really. Well, except for that one big economic thing:
” If I had to say something else about working in Budapest, it’s that hmm — the pay?… Not too, too great.”
“Hungary is in Europe right? But its currency is the Hungarian Forint (HUF). To get an idea of the exchange rate, just know ₦30,000 is like 25,000 HUF. A high portion of the country lives on less than €20,000 a year. But while you might think that’s not a lot of money, with the exchange rate, it earns you a decent living in Budapest. So from my salary, I can do a bunch of things but. I can’t do many things”
Here’s the thing, Dexter, who lives in Ireland but might be getting grim outside the club, because as far as Indonesia is concerned, he can’t get in. Here’s Dexter on the visa application process to Indonesia.
“My friends and I were planning to go to Indonesia in the summer of 2020. While I was doing some research for the group, we found that Nigerians need to get a ‘Calling visa’ that’s a special approval from the immigration boss in Indonesia’s capital – Jakarta.”
“Then we also had to find a sponsor who would be an Indonesian citizen or permanent resident, who would then be required to go for their own interview too. My friends and I didn’t feel welcome, so we won’t be going there anymore.”
Chinedum moved to Canada for her masters, after obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the US. Even though these two countries make up two of the holy trinity of countries Nigerians move to (with the UK as the last), here’s what she had to say on both of them:
The US
“Before I left (The US), I got so scared of my immigration status … I can’t even imagine what things are like for Nigerians with the current Nigerian ban. We (my friends and I) were all meant to go on a trip to Barbados, but they were so scared of not being able to re-enter the country because of the ban, we had to move the trip to Los Angeles. Their president is actually wilding”
Canada
“When I get eventually get a job in Canada after grad school, my peers working the same job in the US will be making more. That’s just how it is. And that’s not even counting the fact that the Canadian dollar is weaker than the U.S dollar. it doesn’t help that the actual opportunities are so concentrated in Canada.”
The UK – Rasheedat
Has lived in the UK since she was 17, in that time she’s experienced everything there is to experience as a black, immigrant Muslim in the UK. But her take on its lending culture had us paying attention.
“When I was leaving university, I left with £55,000 in debt. Now, I’m doing my masters, I’ll leave with maybe another £11,000. The UK pushes you to live in debt. It’s how their system works. If you’re buying a phone, you get it on contract, pay £50 every month. My mom was telling me the other day that she’s owing Very (where we got our wardrobe) money because she picked the monthly payment plan. See, you can buy things on credit from Tesco, the grocery store, Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, just take the credit and be going.“
“When I was opening my student account, they offered me an overdraft of £1500. I said please, I don’t want gbese. I really don’t like owing. But the thing is, you don’t get the option. I actually had to take the overdraft because I wouldn’t have been able to open the account otherwise“
South Africa had had a fair share of press rounds convering its population’s xenophobia. We spoke to a Nigerian with South African lineage about the experience of Nigerians and black immigrants in South Africa.
On her nationality
“Despite being half Nigerian and half- South African … “In South Africa, once you’re an immigrant or you have immigrant parents, citizenship is just… no. My best friend, whose parents are Nigerian, was born here and speaks Zulu like she owns the place. We’re both toting permanent residency permits.”
On immigrant treatment
In Central Johannesburg … a portion of the city that the government has pretty much left to rot. So immigrants, for reasons beyond me, get the blame for its deteriorated state. To some people, immigrants living in an area can cause it to go into disrepair. So it’s always an easy target … Weeks ago, this bonafide South African, mixed-race woman got arrested, because, and I quote “She looked and smelled like an Ethiopian.”
Germany has a ton going for it. Those cars, that infrastructure etc. What it’s lacking in however, is a little neighbourly love. Segun tells us more:
“It’s a cold place out here oh. Literally and figuratively. Some Germans can be chatty, but the majority aren’t. And it spreads to even immigrants, everyone is just eyes front on the streets. I’ve had my neighbour for two years and I think I’ve only seen him once. Maybe he has a baby? I saw a stroller outside his house one time.“
For all intents and purposes, Grenada is paradise, heaven on earth. Not so heavenly, however? It’s parcel delivery system. Hamid, who spent a few years in Grenada for medical school rants about it.
“Shipping costs! Oh my God, it is so expensive to ship anything here. Say you get an iPhone for $1000, just know you’re going to spend like $500 clearing it.”
Let’s add electronics prices and a little driving craziness to that mix
“Electronics are unreasonably expensive here. Just smuggle them in if you can. And lastly, they drive like crazy people here. Which is extra scary because the roads are very narrow and hilly so it’s just hard to reconcile with the jeje lifestyle everyone lives. Like they literally rush everywhere, just to get to their destinations and resume their quiet lives. Blows my mind.”
Imagine you were working in digital communications until you lost your job in late 2019.
After losing your job, your wife delivers a baby. Complications from the delivery puts your family in a bad financial situation. You had to empty the family savings to pull through. Early this year, you start to drive Uber/Taxify to make ends meet. Your wife also starts a fashion outfit to support household income.
Then comes the coronavirus and the whole economy stops. You have to stop driving and your wife closes the shop because everyone has to stay at home. This lack of daily income further worsens your already bad financial situation. In all of this, there’s a baby that needs to be fed.
This is the true-life story of one of the many Nigerians affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus has paralysed economic activities in Nigeria resulting in the shut down of many businesses. This is as a result of a Government-ordered lockdown in two major cities — Abuja and Lagos — as part of its efforts to slow down the coronavirus. The implication of this is that many Nigerians, who live hand-to-mouth and rely on daily income, have suddenly found themselves in scary financial conditions.
Their only hope right now is that they receive a donation from an Angel. Not a real-life Angel but one of the many Angels who are willing to help on the Angels Among Us website.
Individuals and organisations have organised relief drives to help some of the people affected by the lockdown. This drive usually involves fundraising, buying of food, and distribution to those in need. Inspired by a need to also help out, the Angels Among Us idea was born.
What makes the Angels Among Us different is that it removes the need for a middle man who raises funds and distributes. Instead, it connects the helper directly with the person in need. Justin Irabor, the creator, says he chose this model because while looking for a way to help Nigerians during this crisis, he favoured a model that wasn’t limited by his personal time and capacity to disburse. That is how much time he had to spare to collect and share funds. “I wanted a solution beyond my personal limitations: an infinite pool of people helping an infinite amount of people without needing a middle man to drive the process,” he said.
Justin Irabor.
When asked about the idea behind the name, Justin said: “I was inspired by the idea of supernatural beings living like human beings; taking danfo to work and back, eating, and doing regular stuff. So, after cycling through several names, I settled on Angels Among Us – because it brought back that image of regular people ascending to the status of angels as they helped people who didn’t even know them.”
Nigeria is a low trust society where people are raised to be wary of each other because everyone wants to get ahead of the other person. To prevent fraud and to increase trust, there’s a photo verification section. People who need help share a photo of themselves holding a piece of paper with their name and account details on it. And while he knows that this can be gamed, “most people don’t game it because they understand the binding principle here – honesty from the asker attracts kindness from the giver,” he said.
In addition, they also verify that the name in the photo matches the bank account name supplied. There are also phone calls to people seeking help to get more context and verify more details. This process he says is handled by a network of volunteers (nicknamed ‘archangels’) working tirelessly. While they have verified a few hundred people so far, not everyone passes their process.
“Very soon, there are plans to implement BVN verification through an established payment service provider and this will add another layer of security to the program,” he said.
There are also plans to explore other methods of payment for people who do not have bank accounts. Work is ongoing to create a platform that can handle multiple payment types like Paga, O-pay, etc. But this may take a while.
The best part of this project for him, has been discovering the kindness of people. He admits to being cynical by default so the kindness of people has been positively overwhelming. “Being able to write the software for this cause has also been satisfying,” he added.
“The reason I do interviews with publications like Zikoko is to encourage people to use the platform by building trust,” he said. “To increase transparency, I have also made myself more publicly accessible for questioning. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page angelsamong.us/faq that addresses this skepticism. Furthermore, the team is setting up a communications unit (made up of volunteers) who will start sending reports and updates on what’s happening internally. We want to ensure accountability.”
In the age where social distancing is the rule, Justin understands something fundamental; If Nigerians hope to beat this illness, then we must band together and pull resources. This is because the effects of the virus on the economy are more familiar to many Nigerians than the novel virus itself. His ultimate aim is “to ensure that helping anyone affected by this pandemic is as easy as clicking a button.”
If you would like to be a part of this initiative, you can either choose to donate by clicking here. Or by sharing this article with someone that can help.
Look, Nigerians are special, there’s no other way to put it.
When we aren’t winning Jollof wars and well … that’s mostly our selling point, but when we aren’t showing out in the kitchen, we’re displaying skills singe Nigerians don’t even know they possess. Some of our favourites are:
How to pull small gen
See, even if you’ve never attempted to pull a generator before, just know as a Nigerian it is within you to do so. You won’t even need directions, NEPA has made it so.
Being able to predict when NEPA would bring light
Every Nigerian knows how to use the almighty formula to determine when power will be restored. All it requires is asking ‘when did they take light?’
Being able to identify at first glance that a bus isn’t really full
Those buses that just have park his sitting on and pretending, Nigerians don’t fall for that no mo.
Always being able to pick a carpenter that disappoints
Think about this one very well oh
Carpenters are second only to tailors
If you’re a Nigerian who has never picked a disappointing tailor, use style to check your passport well.
Knowing how to magically turn deaf when your car starts making expensive noises.
Deaf to all negative b.s.
Being able to make an extra lane out of anywhere
You could be walking on a pavement and a Nigerian driver would pick that place to beat traffic
We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the COVID-19, both in Nigeria and Africa
Nigeria’s Update from the past 24 hours:
As of yesterday, 8/04/2020, these are the number of reported cases in Nigeria.
Twenty-two new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 15 in Lagos, 4 in the FCT, 2 in Bauchi, 1 in Edo
As at 09:00pm 8th April there are 276 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Fourty-four have been discharged with six deaths pic.twitter.com/Z7W9nJNowS
There is an increase in the number of new cases when compared to yesterday’s numbers.
Africa’s Stats:
Visit www.coronafacts.africa for the latest updates on the fight against Corona in Africa.
Equipment and personnel update:
As part of its effort to support the fight against this pandemic, China is sending medical delegates to African countries. Despite protests from the Nigerian Medical Association, the party sent to Nigeria landed yesterday. Along with manpower and expertise, they also brought along essential equipment Nigeria desperately needs.
If you spent between the ages of 9 and 17 in Nigeria, you probably did some time in Nigerian secondary school.
While there are thousands, probably even hundreds of thousands of schools in Nigeria, there are a few things that make all of our experiences familiar. Let’s check them out shall we?
Getting ready for the first day of a new session like
You already know the sandals are shined and ready to go.
Turning the school sweater into a special fashion statement
Girls swapping with boys. Boys swapping with girls. Rebels everywhere
Using sweaters to hide dirty uniform shirts.
We’re not judging you, but maybe a little bit
Finessing lunch, dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast from your friends during food and nutrition practicals
These practical saved lives fr.
Putting on your best baffs when another school came to visit
Your favourite uniform, lip gloss and Jojo Mani perfume usually heard it those days.
Did everyone else have someone that was about two years too young to be in their class?
Members of the double-double promotion gang.
Every one of us at 13, trying to decide one issue that could affect the rest of our lives – science, commercial or arts.
How is this legal btw?
Rushing to collect notes to complete yours on the morning of open day.
If you didn’t do this, you somehow managed to go through secondary school without studying biology
Getting in trouble with all your friends was one of the best things about secondary school.
No lies detected.
What was your favourite part about secondary school?
We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the COVID-19, both in Nigeria and Africa
Nigeria’s Update from the past 24 hours:
As of yesterday, 7/04/2020, these are the number of reported cases in Nigeria.
Sixteen new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 10 in Lagos, 2 in the FCT, 2 in Oyo, 1 in Delta and 1 in Katsina
As at 09:30 pm 7th April there are 254 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Fourty-four have been discharged with six deaths pic.twitter.com/UlDvzM3cUZ
There have been racist remarks suggesting that Africa serves as a testing ground for the Coronavirus. The Director-General of the World Health Organization; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has come out to say such a thing will not happen. He has also rebuked the French doctors who suggested this.
Stay updated with the latest and factually correct news on COVID-19 by visiting Coronafacts.africa. Our brand new site for the most interactive and easy to read Corona updates.
Because we love you:
We made some of the best explainer videos in various languages like Yoruba, Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo, Esan. Click here to get started.
Enjoy the pidgin version below:
Come back tomorrow by 12 pm for more updates and tips on COVID-19. We will beat this!
While the Coronavirus is being contained, it is our literal duty to sit in and enjoy the Jones we pay rent in and outrightly own, to prevent the spread of the virus.
For a lot of people, that’s a little difficult to compute, they think we should be partying, catching up with friends, hanging out. To those people we say:
In case that isn’t strong enough, we’ve summoned the collective powers of the Pete Edochie, Chiwetel Agu and Nollywood’s most dastardly crew to bring perfect proverbial responses to any “come to my house, let’s hang out” invitations while the lockdown is in place:
A fowl that is disobedient learns obedience in the cooking pot.
Or in the hands of Nigerian soldiers in desperate need of empathy training.
Turtles carry their houses on their backs out of the plain fear of tomorrow
i.e me wey dey house, I know wetin I dey find there
Today’s newspaper becomes a trash wrap for tomorrow
Meaning, today’s rocks become a yesterday’s Insta story. But after 14 days Covid-19 may know what’s up.
He who will swallow the udala seed must not consider the size of his stomach
No go dey do pass yourself
The fly that has no one to advise him, follows a corpse to the grave
*send tweet*
When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes another thing
That is to say, it’s not me that will join you on a suicide mission
The man who belittled the sickness a monkey suffered must ask to see the eyes which his nurse got from blowing the sick free
If you want to go really deep
When death wants to take a little dog, it prevents him from perceiving even the smell of excrement
We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the Covid-19, both in Nigeria and globally.
Nigeria’s Update from the past 24 hours:
As of yesterday, 6/04/2020, these are the number of reported cases in Nigeria.
Six new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 2 in Kwara, 2 in Edo, 1 in Rivers and 1 in the FCT
As at 09:30 pm 6th April there are 238 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Thirty-five have been discharged with five deaths pic.twitter.com/jmChydhtas
Stay updated with the latest and factually correct news on COVID-19 by visiting Coronafacts.africa. If you need a reason to visit, just know that we are endorsed by the Africa Centre for Disease Control. 😎
In partnership with @AfricaCDC, we are happy to announce funding support for 8 companies focused on the delivery of vetted #COVID19 information in multiple languages, to educate and curb the spread of misinformation.
One more 5G network conspiracy theory and I will be sick. Do you know what kills faster than fear? Wrong information.
There is a fraudulent message being passed around on Whatsapp that 5G network causes Coronavirus and that’s just tragic. The message is spreading faster than it takes for souvenirs to finish at a Yoruba wedding, so that’s alarming.
Yesterday, the Nigeria Communications Commission which is tasked with providing efficient communication services in the country debunked rumors that 5G is linked to Coronavirus.
Here are some important points from the briefing:
What is 5G network?
In summary, 5G is 4G’s elder brother.
Should I be worried about 5G?
Nothing to be worried about.
Does 5G cause Coronavirus?
No, it doesn’t.
Who owns 5G network?
It belongs to no one and it also belongs to everyone.
I hope with these few points of mine, I have been able to convince and not confuse you that 5G is not our problem. As Nigerians, we have endless options of problems to pick from so let’s not manufacture non-existent ones.
Take your mind off all these wahala and get lost in articles of happiness below:
We live in uncertain times and that can be scary. What if we promised you some form of certainty? Every day by 12 noon, we’ll bring you the latest updates on the fight against the Covid-19, both in Nigeria and Africa.
The weekend sure went by quickly. In one weekend, we got an increase in the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Nigeria. We also got a scandal by the ambassador for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. It definitely wasn’t boring for such a stay at home weekend.
Nigerian Update from the past 24 hours:
As at yesterday, 5/04/2020, these are the number of reported cases in Nigeria.
Ten new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 6 in Lagos, 2 in FCT and 2 in Edo.
As at 11:15 am 5th April there are 224 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Twenty-seven have been discharged with five deaths pic.twitter.com/zztdRENzUF
The discharge ratio is a source of hope. It means this disease is beatable and that in itself is comforting.
Worldwide stats:
The United States has the highest number of reported cases and here’s what that looks like:
We sure hope they come out of this stronger and better.
Today’s misinformation:
There’s a new kind of virus which is even worse than the COVID-19 – Misinformation virus.
It’s sad that in this age of fear and uncertainty, some people are spreading misinformation and inciting panic. The latest wave is that 5G is directly linked to the Coronavirus. This is untrue as there is no correlation whatsoever.
Here’s some clarification from the Nigerian Communications Commission debunking myths about 5G causing the Coronavirus.
Try to disconnect from stressors (the internet) for a few hours every day so you can have non-COVID thoughts. This is a good place to start.
Stay updated:
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The Nigerian experience is physical, emotional and sometimes international. No one knows it better than our features on #TheAbroadLife, a series where we detail and explore Nigerian experiences while living abroad.
Did everyone know Canada had a housing scheme so new (legal) residents had a soft landing when they moved? Did you know its government plans a big monthly pay out to citizens to help manage the outcome of the coronavirus? Did you also know that the IELTS are not that hard, and will probably come at a discount when this virus is finally contained? Joking about the last bit, but for Ichiban, the subject of this week’s Abroad Life, leaving a country he was certain was headed in the wrong direction was no laughing matter. He tells us about his move to Canada here:
Let’s start from here. If I borrow ₦2 billion from the future money my pastor swore was my portion this 2020 and paid you to swap places with me in Nigeria, would you agree?
Wait oh, you can’t just drop maths on people like this, let me get my calculator first and do the exchange rate. If it isn’t up to $15 million, forget it. And that’s just for me, because I know where that money will reach in Nigeria. If you want me to move and carry my whole family along, just multiply that 15 by 4 and maybe we can start talking.
Na wa oh. Good thing my pastor also told me to avoid proud people this year. So, this country making you carry shoulders, where is it?
Canada. I currently live in the funny sounding province of Saskatchewan.
Now off the top of your head, what is your favourite thing, PC (ᴘʀᴇ-ᴄᴏʀᴏɴᴀ ʏᴜɴɴᴏ) about living in Canada?
Hm. Where do I start?
I think the best thing about life here is the sanity. I grew up in Shomolu, Lagos, so sanity where I live isn’t something I take for granted.
Let me tell you a story about when I first moved here.
I’m all ears
Truth is, it isn’t some exciting story, but it just opened my eyes to a different way of doing things. When my family and I first moved to Canada, our friends here decided to show us around, after a day’s sightseeing, we went to Tim Hortons which is like Mr Biggs in its heyday over there. After the new immigrants were done eating, we stood up and pretty much told our friends thanks for a lovely day, but they just looked at us in that, ‘we don’t do that here’ face. Apparently, you cleaned up after yourself when eating, throw the food into the bins provided and gather up the trays. I was actually in shock.
Chicken Republic naize naize can’t believe its eyes
And that’s just one thing. Pedestrians own the roads here, they have their sidewalks and even if they veer off of it, the road users still respect them. The zebra crossings work. There’s just a respect for life.
You can’t even see policemen to complain to because everyone is just so respectful, they’re hardly needed because everyone is programmed to have sense. But that doesn’t mean if you need a policeman he won’t show up at your door in five minutes when you call.
It was one favourite thing we said, this is how people fail exams.
Now that’s all good and fair, but Nigeria has … look, it doesn’t matter what Nigeria has. What matters is what was so bad about this country, you had to pack all your load and leave?
Easy. I read the writing on the wall, and anyone who does so too, is probably planning on leaving as well.
Let me give you a scenario. You see those people in the morning that gather to read newspapers under bridges? Look a little to their left and note the guys not saying much, just drinking their morning shepe and wondering where money would come from for that day. Those numbers keep increasing.
Now you may think you’re safe, with your Toyota Camry with the small lights, your nice ironed shirt and maybe ₦1000 in your pocket, not doing great, but not doing too badly — but these people, still looking for the day’s income, they probably see you as rich, you’re likely the one standing in the way of their riches, and the day they decide to revolt, because that day is coming, Nigerians not doing great, but not doing too badly will probably be their first targets.
Man.
As an upper lower class resident of Lagos (and yes that’s deliberate), I spent too much time waiting for the security time bomb to go off. It got to a stage where I would wake up about six times every day, making sure the doors were locked and no one was attempting to break into our home.
I can’t argue with that
And if that wasn’t enough, it was becoming increasingly hard to cope. I obviously want the best for my children. So when the chance came for my children to have their secondary education in the upscale school my wife taught at, we jumped at it. That just came with paying what we normally would for a school year in one term. So imagine we were paying ₦800,000 per child for three terms, and that suddenly jumped to ₦800,000 per term.
What? ₦800,000 per term?
Yepp. ₦800,000 per term for each child. We have three children and this was on a teacher’s discount. I had to start thinking. I was doing okay, but the financial burden would have eventually taken its toll. Again, I want the best for my children, I had to start thinking. With the security in the country and just the want for better, not just for my kids, but for myself — moving to Canada just seemed like the logical next step.
I completely understand that. What were you doing in Nigeria before you moved?
Everything video. I was a filmmaker, I had a production company, I was involved in entertainment. I used to do music, I was a Director of Production. It was good for me, I was able to carve out a niche for myself.
Oh great, you worked for yourself, I imagine packing up and leaving wouldn’t have been too hard. Was the process as easy for your wife? How difficult was it convincing her to move?
Convince ke? Somebody that had been singing ‘let’s move’, ‘let’s move’ into my ears for years. It was ultimately her decision. When we had planned enough, making the move wasn’t difficult for either of us.
And this move, how long did it take you to make it?
So, we got to Canada last year, but if we had gotten in at the moment we started putting things in place, we’d have been enjoying the abroad breeze for about four years.
Oh yeah? What happened there?
Well first we were duped by immigration lawyers. About a year’s work and two million down the drain.
Oh no!
See, let’s not even enter that matter. So the way we got in was through a provincial nomination. The provinces in Canada inform the government of immigrant needs they have, say teachers, doctors. The government posts it on the immigration website and aspiring migrants apply. But see, if you pocket isn’t ready for the move, you just manage where you are.
Wait oh. How much are we talking about here?
First off, with this Provincial nomination, our province was in need of teachers. My wife’s Masters in Early Childhood Development qualified us to apply, which was why we had a shot in the first place. After that, because I have a family of four, one wife and three children — the government requires my proof of funds (money to show you can care for yourself for at least three months after the move) to be many many.
Hm. Define ‘many many’
When we applied, they needed at least thirteen million Naira in the bank. Building that sum takes time. This added to the period it took for us to make the move.
Scratches ‘move to Canada by December 2020, coro willing’ away from year goals.
So you’ve moved now, what are some things no one could have prepared you for in Canada?
Well, I’ve talked about the sanity, but I think I expected that.
Another thing would have to be, you know, probably not getting a job that you were qualified to hold in Nigeria, when you make the move.
I’m a qualified film maker and I haven’t used my skills here yet because I need certain qualifications before I’d get a decent hire. If you’re impatient, you might get frustrated by that. But honestly, don’t. The opportunities that await you when you do will make it so worth it.
I hear that.
My family doctor, when he moved to Canada, he did all sorts. Worked at a factory, did shifts at restaurants, everything because despite being qualified in Nigeria, he still had to be certified in Canada. Now, with his certification, this man owns his own practice and is pretty much a prayer point for anyone who knows his story. You just have to trust the process.
Whew the Nigerian excellence jumped out
Haha. So just knowing to lay low and build was something I had to accept. Accommodation follows suit right after. No one told prepared me for how efficient the government housing scheme was. I currently live in a three bedroom flat, paying around $1200 CAD per month and this doesn’t count bills. With bills it’s maybe $1600. I have recent Nigerian immigrant Nigerian friends that live in similar housing, paying $400 CAD, plus bills, all thanks to the government housing scheme!
Do you have their jazz man’s number? Asking for a friend who’s about to add ‘moving to Canada before December 2020, coro willing’ to her year list.
See you. It’s a working government you’re calling jazz. The government just subsidises bills for legal residents, irrespective of your nationality, to make life easy, especially when you’re still finding your feet. The subsidised bills will go up once your earnings do too, but that soft landing is so important when you first come into the country. I didn’t apply for the government scheme because I thought there was more to it, see the trust issues Nigeria gave me?
Hm. Buhari has been real quiet since we had this conversation
Haha, I tell you. Moving away from things I wasn’t prepared for. I’ll add to how good this government is. My friend wanted to pursue some academic career, so he applied to the government for assistance and they gave him a $4000 CAD grant, as well as $15,000 CAD in student loans. I can’t imagine that happening in Nigeria without some kind of politics getting involved, and this was a migrant asking a government for help. It’s things like this that just stamp it in my head that I made the right choice to move.
You ain’t ever lie.
And my children! In Canada, it is illegal for a child to be out of school.
A school bus comes to pick them every morning and drops them off everyday. If they miss the bus, I have to call the school to give an explanation. And it’s all free. The government makes it clear that these children are their children and you’re pretty much a caretaker for their child. It’s wild. My wife receives the equivalent of almost half a million Naira every month in government assistance for caring for the children. Can you imagine that?
At this juncture, I have to ask if there’s anything you miss about Nigeria?
Be asking. Do you know how much the government is going to give every legal resident to cope with the coronavirus?
I’m in Nigeria every day abeg. On Instagram. I say hello from afar, I like the distance and I prefer it that way, please. So nope, I don’t miss anything. Trudeau got me.
Want more Abroad Life? Check in every Friday at 9 A.M. (WAT) for a new episode. Until then, read every story of the series here.
Contrary to what they led us to believe when it became clear that La Corona was going global, the Nigeria government is NO WAY prepared to handle this pandemic. From letting people coming from high risk countries into Nigeria without keeping them in quarantine first to not having enough test kits, the whole thing is a mess that is slowly causing panic among Nigerians.
Twenty-three new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria; 9 in Lagos, 7 in the FCT, 5 in Akwa Ibom, 1 in Kaduna and 1 in Bauchi State
As at 08:00 pm 1st April there are 174 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Nine have been discharged with two deaths pic.twitter.com/Wy9MzX1lsr
To that effect, there have been donations from different people (Tinubu, Dangote, Folorunso Alakija etc) dedicated to getting the different things medical personnel need. However, we don’t know if these donations have actually been made or if the funds (if donated) are being used right.
But that’s not why we’re here today. We’re here today to discuss the Nigerian government’s recent antics on Twitter. On the 31st of March, 2020 engineer and technology entrepreneur, Elon Musk tweeted this:
We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.
A unit of ventilator costs 1.8 Million Naira only. Total donations is more than 50 Billion so far yet Ministry of Finance is dropping account number under Elon Musk 's Giveaway tweet. Please where are all the donated money going to?
More than 10 Billion Naira has been donated by corporates and HNIs in Nigeria to combat Covid-19, but the Ministry of Finance & Budget has reduced itself into Bambiala Twitter to beg Tesla owner Elon Musk for equipments.
Which led other Nigerians to bring up a couple of insane things our politicians did with money in our not so distant past.
This same Nigeria that budgeted N37B to renovate NASS building, $500m to upgrade NTA is begging Elon Musk to do ventilator giveaway for us on twitter. We dey beg to even manage 100.
While all this was happening, I went back to check the tweet that started it all and found this:
Whoever’s handling the official Twitter account for Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning deleted the tweet.
BRETHREN!
What side of this argument are you on? Was it shameful for the government to dip Nigeria’s toes in the muddy waters of Bambiala Twitter? Or do you see nothing wrong with it? Sound off in the comments!
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Seyi Makinde hit the ground running from the first minute he became the governor of Oyo State. And before long, his administration became one of the most-loved in Nigeria. Not to make it seem like Nigerians love celebrating the bare minimum because there is still a long way to go but Seyi Makinde has repeatedly shown that he means business. And these are some of the reasons why he has a decent public perception.
One of the first things he did and it warmed our hearts
Details of Seyi makinde’s asset declaration. He made it public without compulsion. He has won my heart completely and I will be rooting and praying for him. It’s a new dawn in Oyo State. pic.twitter.com/BnJ9gvdQav
Throw in something about when life gives you lemon
In view of the prevailing situation of COVID-19, His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde has made an alternative structure for learning at home for all students, particularly SSS3 students who are at the verge of sitting for the WAEC and NECO.
After a heated game of cat and mouse, President Buhari finally addressed Nigerians. You can read the speech here. Apart from the fact that it took too long to happen, Nigerians were not pleased with the delivery and also short-notice decision to lockdown Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja under 24 hours.
Nigerians had a few things to say about President Buhari’s Speech and here are some of the responses:
Three days ago, there was an explosion of unknown cause in Akure. And while there have been several theories about the cause of the Akure explosion, no concrete reason has been found. Yet.
Driven by the need to quickly get to the bottom of this, the government put in place some measures. Here are some of the latest developments:
1) Formation of a multi-disciplinary panel to investigate.
This team comprises of officers from the Nigerian police bomb disposal unit working alongside members of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA). The NGSA is equipped with state of the art technology necessary to examine the soil, rocks, minerals, water and these kinds of investigation scenes.
2) Eye witness account is crucial to solving this case.
Part of the pieces of this puzzle will be provided by the driver who drove the truck carrying these explosives. We wish him a speedy recovery because his testimony can help shed more light on the case and also give some closure.
3) Look beyond the ordinary.
We have had a series of explosions in the South West lately that it no longer looks like a coincidence. Hmmm. God save us
