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On the evening of June 12, 2023, the talk on social media revolved around a single topic—the newly signed student loan bill by Tinubu.
The Bill was introduced in November 2022 by Femi Gbajabiamila, Nigeria’s current Chief of Staff, who was a member of the House of Representatives at the time. This new Bill seeks to provide interest-free loans to students in tertiary institutions with the aid of a National Education Bank.
President Tinubu signs student loan bill into law [Vanguard Newspapers]
While this bill is seen as a step forward regarding its potential benefits, it has faced criticism regarding its implementation. Many members of the public are concerned about how students will be able to repay these loans, given Nigeria’s high unemployment rate and widespread poverty.
At the Citizen, I cover issues affecting Nigerian students, and this Bill has greatly interested me. In January, we published an article that shed light on Tinubu’s long-standing support for and endorsement of the bill since 2015, including its drawbacks.
Here we are now, six months after that article was published. We’ll go into all the specifics of what the Bill entails. If you’re a student who still wishes to apply for a loan, this ABC information is for you. And if you are not a student, perhaps it’s time to consider taking another Jamb examination if you are interested in its benefits.
Who are these loans for?
Applicants who can access the loans must have the following:
Admission to a Nigerian educational institution (university or polytechnic)
Interest in taking the loan ONLY for tuition fees
House Income that’s less than ₦500,000
Two guarantors. These should be civil servants, lawyers or judicial officers who have been in service for more than 12 years
You won’t get these loans if you are/have:
Previously defaulted on loans
For the government, if you’re a chronic defaulter on loans given by previous organisations, you do not stand a chance of qualifying for the loan.
Wahala be like bicycle
Parents who are also loan defaulters
For the government, your parents’ sins are your sins too. If your parents also happen to be debtors on loans, either student loans or loans from other organisations, the applicant will be disqualified.
Guilty of exam malpractice and felonies
An aspiring applicant won’t be able to access the loans if a school board has found them guilty of exam fraud or felonies by any judicial court.
So much for second chances
How does the government plan to fund this loan?
Here’s the plan to fund the National Education Bank:
Interests arising from deposits in the Bank
Education bonds
Education endowment fund schemes
1% of all taxes, levies and duties from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Donations, gifts and grants
How does repayment of the loan work?
Every beneficiary is to commence repayment two years after completing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. Before then, students’ academic records (which contain the year of graduation, NYSC enrollment year, and employment) will be monitored.
If the applicant is employed by an organisation, there will be a 10% deduction from their salary into the Student Loan Account until repayment is complete.
Entrepreneurs would have to remit 10% of their profit to the Student Loan Account as the bank prescribes while submitting their corporation’s details.
The punishment for defaulters? Two years imprisonment or the option of a fine of ₦500,000.
Just imagine being behind bars for defaulting to pay back
With this knowledge, how do I apply?
Interested applicants are expected to submit:
A copy of the student admission letter
A letter written by the guarantors addressed to the chairman and governing board of the Education Bank recommending the student and accepting liability.
Two passport photographs from guarantors
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) documents if the guarantor is self-employed
If interested, don’t snooze. You’ll only have 30 days after the admissions close for an academic year to submit your documents. After submission, you can expect your funds in no more than 30 days.
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On June 2, 2023, President Bola Tinubu appointed Femi Gbajabiamila, the 9th House of Representatives (HOR) Speaker, as his Chief of Staff (COS).
A more pertinent issue to ponder is: having been reelected to the HOR by his Surulere constituents, what happens to his seat now that he’s taken up the COS role? And what are his new responsibilities?
Promotion or Demotion?
Gbajabiamila’s foray into Nigerian politics follows a similar pattern to that of other establishment politicians. Despite having a legal background, the lawmaker’s history of fraud is well known; a US court indicted him for fraud in February 2007. He has served in the HOR for 20 years and rose to his highest position when he contested for Speaker in 2019 and won. Gbajabiamila notably sponsored the Student Loan Act, which Tinubu recently signed into law. He ran again for office in the 2023 general elections and won a sixth term in the green chambers by polling 19,717 votes.
However, the 9th assembly dissolved on June 11. With his appointment as COS, opinions differ on whether it signifies a promotion to the President’s trusted confidante or a step down from being the fifth-ranking official in Nigeria. Regardless, zoning requirements for reconstituting the 10th assembly meant it was always unlikely he’d remain the speaker.
So what happens to Gbajabiamila’s seat?
[Femi Gbajabiamila / Punch]
Gbajabiamila can serve as both the speaker and the COS to the president without legal hindrance until he leaves his current position. However, it’s worth noting that the office of COS is not officially part of any constitutional body. Still, potential conflicts of interest could emerge.
Gbajabiamila will ultimately resign his position in the HOR. This would make his seat as Surulere 1 constituency representative vacant, which the yet-to-be-elected Speaker of the HOR will announce. Once that happens, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will organise a bye-election for his constituency. The All Progressives Congress (APC), to which Gbajabiamila belongs, would have to nominate another candidate. It also means the candidates from opposition parties who initially lost out can reclaim the seat.
What does the Chief of Staff do?
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo created the COS position in 1999. It’s a high-ranking office whose occupant is selected at the discretion of the President.
The Chief of Staff is the President’s buddy (sorry, Mr VP), overseeing the executive office and coordinating important programmes and agencies. The COS is the primary liaison between the President and key officials, including the Federal Executive Council. The COS manages the flow of information to the President and acts as an adviser. Additionally, they ensure seamless operations for the President’s engagements, including the presidential fleet.
The COS has to be a highly skilled technocrat able to open their ears to happenings within the villa and without. They must also learn to be tough but diplomatic around the clock while looking out for political sharks. As the late political critic Obadiah Mailafia describes it, it’s not a job for the fainthearted.
Gbajabiamila will be the 7th COS in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Time will tell how well he can transition into his new role. While congratulations are in order for him, he, more than anyone else, knows he has to hit the ground running.
It’s Democracy Day. Major operational institutions are closed. If you tune in to radio and TV stations in the country, everyone is talking about the significance of June 12. This is a day that has come to represent Nigeria’s democracy.
How did Democracy Day become such an important public holiday in Nigeria?
First, you must understand the rise and fall of the 2nd Republic as the catalyst for the demand for democratic governance in Nigeria. You also need to know the backstory of the annulled June 12, 1993 elections, and the journey of Moshood Kashimawo Olawale “MKO” Abiola, who became an emblematic figure in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Shehu Shagari, Buhari and the Fall of the 2nd Republic
To better understand the significance of the Nigerian clamour for democracy in 1993, we must rewind thirteen years to when Shehu Shagari, a civilian president, was in power.
His election into power led to the rise (and fall) of Nigeria’s 2nd Republic from 1979–1983.
Shagari’s election into power resulted from a military-to-democratic government transition model initiated by then Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979.
But with Shagari’s entry into power, Nigeria didn’t enter a season of political utopia but plunged into its existing problems.
Oil prices crashed, riots occurred in Northern Nigeria, ministers became more corrupt, and massive electoral malpractice and rigging occurred during the 1983 general elections.
This led to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari overthrowing the Shagari administration in a coup during the same year. However, Buhari’s government didn’t fare any better either.
Buhari was particularly unpopular with citizens for his Decrees No. 2 and 4. These gave the state security power to ban strikes and popular demonstrations and censor media outlets perceived as posing a threat to the government’s interests.
By 1985, it became clear to the political elite in the country that Buhari had no plans of ever giving back power to Nigerians. This resulted in the Ibrahim “IBB” Babangida-led coup in August 1985.
IBB, the military general with a desire for democracy
Nevertheless, he encountered similar economic challenges as his predecessor, Buhari, including the devaluation of the naira, which led to social unrest.
With the perception of being labelled as “just another military dictator” in Nigeria’s history, Babangida needed to achieve something remarkable that would leave a positive legacy in the eyes of Nigerians. You can consider it as him “doing better”.
For him, the solution was clear—to restore democratic governance.
To achieve this, he embarked on significant reforms. This included:
An establishment of dual-tier legislatures at both national and state levels
The appointment of civilians to govern the states
And the formation of two major national political parties: the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republic Convention (NRC).
With these structures in place, the only thing Nigerians needed to do was elect a new president as the final phase of the transition. This is where this story becomes more intriguing—so grab your popcorn, and let’s dive in.
The June 12, 1993, elections
The June 12 elections witnessed a head-to-head battle between SDP’s business mogul, MKO Abiola, and NRC’s Alhaji Bashir Tofa. The election was scheduled for Saturday, June 12, 1993.
This election was critical, as it would determine Nigeria’s first democratically elected president since 1979, marking the start of the 3rd Republic.
At the end of the election, MKO Abiola emerged as the winner with over eight million votes, winning in 19 states. His opponent, NRC candidate Tofa, received over six million votes and won in 10 states.
Out of the total votes cast, which exceeded 14 million, Abiola secured nearly 60 per cent. This made him the clear winner of the election. This election is widely regarded as the most free and fair in Nigeria’s history.
MKO emerged as a prominent figure and continues to hold significance. Hailing from the South-West region and having Babagana Kingibe, his running mate, from the North-East made them a preferred choice for most people during the elections. Interestingly, despite both candidates being Muslims, they had wide support.
The election was annulled, which led to MKO—considered as Africa’s most successful businessman—not becoming president.
On June 16, the government-run Radio Nigeria announced that NEC was suspending the official results announcement due to “developments and action pending in courts.” The announcement cited irregularities observed during the elections.
The announcement triggered widespread protests and civil unrest across Nigeria, leading to the resignation of Babangida. This was followed by Ernest Shonekan’s brief interim civilian government and, ultimately, the Gen. Sani Abacha military coup of 1993.
Abiola was placed in detention following the annulment. Under Abacha’s leadership, the military regime in power at the time accused him of treason. They had him arrested after he declared himself the winner of the June 12 elections.
Abiola died the day he was set to be released from detention, on July 7, 1998. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. The claims of assassination as the cause of his death are also uncertain.
How Nigerians got to celebrate June 12 as Democracy Day
The commemoration of Democracy Day on June 12 is now in its 6th year. For many Nigerians, particularly those from the South-West states, today is marked as significant for the outcome of the election.
But for Buhari, June 12 is a way to nationally acknowledge the man who lost his life in the quest for democratic governance in Nigeria.
Undoubtedly, the 1993 general elections and MKO Abiola will forever be etched in Nigeria’s history as the pinnacle of its democratic revolution.
Victor is a Nigerian police inspector who’s been in the force for 16 years. For this week’s Navigating Nigeria, he spoke to Citizen about his reasons for joining the police, why he thinks the Nigerian people get the police they deserve, and other policing matters ranging from Seun Kuti to the Police Pension Bill.
Editorial Note: Navigating Nigeria is a platform for Nigerians to passionately discuss the Nigerian experience with little interference from individual opinions. While our editorial standards emphasise the truth and endeavour to fact-check claims and allegations, we are not responsible for allegations made about other people based on half-truths.
What were your motivations for joining the Nigerian police?
I didn’t sit down and decide to join the police. It wasn’t out of free will. I joined out of anxiety for myself and my siblings. It’s needful to add that my father was a police officer. He was retiring from the force, so I had to take up the job to cater for myself because it’d have been difficult for him to provide for my younger siblings and me as a retiree.
I lived a quiet and principled life, thanks to my parents’ upbringing. This has helped me to stay sane in the force.
The truth is that many conditions have pressured some of us into doing not-so-nice things that aren’t worth mentioning. Ultimately, policemen aren’t drafted from space or a foreign country. We’re all a product of Nigerian society, for better or worse.
Care to shed light on this?
The police aren’t the most corrupt institution there is in Nigeria. We’re just closer to the people than other institutions, reinforcing the perception that we’re the worst, and I’d like to clarify this.
If you’re crude to them, don’t take care of them or see to their basic remuneration needs, or if working conditions are not good, they’ll do whatever they can to make things conducive for themselves. The risk involved in policing is high, and we’re endangering ourselves daily without adequate insurance. You meet all of these needs, and you’ll get a civil police. If you don’t, you’ll have a disgruntled and unsatisfied police force that can’t attract the best minds.
I hope Nigerians’ defensive nature can be worked on as we assert our authority when we feel undermined. Things could improve if Nigerians don’t always see us as the enemy.
Addressing these issues will attract people with principles to the force and help sanitise it.
What has your experience with the police force been like so far?
I’m a police inspector and have been in the police force for 16 years. A police officer is a member of society vested with the authority to keep society sane by a set of prescribed rules and regulations put in place by society. A police officer makes sure no one contravenes these laws. If these laws are contravened, the erring person faces the consequences.
Society has to consent to your authority as a police officer before you can police them. Other than that, it’s sheer slavery.
That said, my experience hasn’t been so bad. Besides the impediments I raised earlier, I’ve consistently tried to improve myself. I see some of the pitfalls police officers face when policing the community and learn from them not to replicate them in my life. I want to leave lasting impressions in the minds of the people I meet daily. I’m courteous with people, keeping an open mind, and empathetic in my interactions. This has made me stand out, and overall, the testimonies I’ve received make the experience worthwhile.
This would be a good time to hear your thoughts on the Seun Kuti matter
I think Seun’s reaction was malicious and premeditated. It was a calculated attempt at humiliating the entire Nigeria Police Force. He went on Instagram (IG) to brag that he isn’t like other celebrities who would come on IG to explain being slapped or confronted by the police. He even asked if we knew how many police he’d slapped in the past without consequence.
Overall, the police handled the situation well, as due process was followed after he turned himself in, and eventually, he was bailed. He would have been sorry he slapped an officer in uniform in other, more advanced countries. Somebody got 70 years imprisonment for spitting on a police officer in the USA.
In conclusion, men of the junior ranks, like the policeman involved with Seun, should exercise more restraint, and civilians should loosen up a little more and show some respect for our police force. It’s the only way the experiences between the two can get better.
The passage of the Bill for the Nigeria Police Pension Board is a very laudable and long due. I’m hopeful for the gracious endorsement of the President, and that implementation will be expedited.
I like this development because, consequently, police officers, upon retirement, can access a chunk of, if not all, of their retirement benefit and not the meagre amounts handed to them, which is almost inadequate to do anything meaningful with.
As with the other sister agencies, like the DSS and the military, which were since exempted from the contributory pension scheme, retired police officers would be able to maintain a decent livelihood and also cater for their essential needs, especially their health, as their take-home would remain their basic salaries while they were still serving.
That said, I’d like the government to look at upscaling the remuneration of police officers. As it stands, the risk involved in policing far outweighs the monetary compensation. I’m not implying that there’s a momentary equivalent of staking one’s life daily but as a moral booster. The Nigeria Police has one of the poorest remunerations compared to other African Countries.
There are also other welfare-related matters, such as comprehensive insurance packages for every police officer. The present Inspector General of Police hinted at it, but I’m not sure of the state of the proposal at this time. Housing is another crucial necessity. Most police officers live outside the barracks, largely in shabby and dilapidated states. The aforementioned facilities are the basic requirements that are supposed to be in place for a functional and confident police force and officers, as it were. Again, I’d say that every society gets the police force it deserves. If you compromise their welfare and working conditions, you’ll have a dissatisfied police force.
Nigeria has 32 airports, and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) runs 26 of them. The remaining five airports not under the control of FAAN are private air terminals and fields. Presently, Nigeria has 5 international airports and 21 domestic ones for local travel.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023), before the end of his administration, renamed 15 Nigerian airports after prominent Nigerian leaders. We will spot them for you in this article as well.
Briefly, let me tell you what FAAN does
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), formerly known as the Nigerian Airport Authority (NAA), was established by Decree 45 of 1976 with the sole responsibility of overseeing the operation and maintenance of all federal airports.
Providing resources needed for the smooth operation and management of airports
Ensuring proper handling of passengers and their baggage
Providing criteria for the movement of passengers and their goods by aircraft.
Overseeing all economic activities in airports
Determining the charges for activities within the airports.
As is well known, there are two classifications of airports: international and domestic. Nigeria has five functional international airports. These are:
Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos
The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), located in Ikeja, Lagos state, is one of Nigeria’s most popular and busiest airports. This airport was built during the Second World War and was initially named the Lagos International Airport before being renamed after Nigeria’s 4th head of state, General Murtala Muhammed, in the 1970s.
The MMIA is the largest airport in Nigeria and transports over 50 million passengers a year. It also has a domestic flight terminal that eases congestion for passengers.
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja
As the name suggests, the airport was named after the first Nigerian president, Nnamdi Azikiwe. It was built in 2000 and started operations in 2002. It has an international and domestic terminal. Also, the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport terminal is the first to be connected to the rail transport system in the country. FAAN reports that its airport terminals can process about 15 million annually
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano
Located in the capital city of Kano, Kano state, this airport was named after Nigerian politician Aminu Kano, and it’s the oldest in Nigeria as it began operating in 1936. Before Nigeria’s independence, it was the Royal Air Force station, serving as the point of arrival and departure for the Royal Air Force.
The Mallam Aminu airport serves most of the northern region. It has international and local terminals, but most of its international flights cater to Muslim pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca.
Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers
This airport, located in Omagwa, Port Harcourt, in Rivers state, started operations in the 1980s and also offers domestic and international flights. However, it was closed in August 2006 due to an emergency and reopened in December 2007. And in October 2018, a new terminal was added at the airport.
This airport, located in the capital city of Enugu, was commissioned on October 22, 1976. It was named after a distinguished medical missionary and governor of the Eastern region in Nigeria’s first republic, Akanu Ibiam. This airport has domestic and local terminals and is the primary airport serving the eastern part of Nigeria.
What are the domestic airports in Nigeria?
Domestic airports, also known as local airports, handle flights within the country, although some have the word “international” in their names.
Mall. Abubakar Imam Airport, formerly called the Minna Airport, Niger
Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo International Airport, formerly known as the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers
Sadiq Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto
Sir. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Bauchi
Warri Airport, Delta
Lamido Aliyu Mustapha Airport, formerly called Yola Airport, Adamawa
Zaria Airport, Kaduna
Nigeria’s aviation sector hasn’t been at its best. Some of these airports are not in good condition, and hospitality in some places is poor. With the hope that most Nigerians share, it will be nice to see developments in our aviation sector that raise the level of service that our airports provide, and perhaps for once, our plans to have a national airline will stop being a pipe dream.
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.
Today’s #AbroadLife features a Nigerian software engineer working with Volvo in Sweden. During a vacation in Poland, he experienced harassment and was unceremoniously ejected from his hotel for simply asking for basic services. He shares his story with us and discusses why he may never return to Poland again.
What were your motivations for “Japa-ing” in the first place?
I was not necessarily looking at moving abroad at the beginning. I had a good-paying, remote job working from Nigeria. However, I experienced limitations and frustrations that made me consider the Japa route. Money in your pocket can be very annoying when you cannot get basic things at affordable rates, like electricity, internet and safety, to say the least. I also had this situation where the police extorted me. I consider that one of my last straws.
WOW! What happened?
So here’s the thing. In 2021, I had just moved to Lagos and stayed with a friend until I could find a place for myself in 2022. I wasn’t particular about the distance from town, as I only needed a quiet, big area. I finally got a place like that around Kola, at Alimosho.
When setting up the place, I called on the services of a carpenter to do wardrobes for me. I paid him 60-70% of the total bill in advance for the work he was to do, and he disappeared for two months. When I finally contacted him, he gave me stories. This was for something he was supposed to deliver in three weeks. I gave him another month, but he still didn’t show. After weeks of pushing and shoving, he gave me wardrobes that were not satisfactory, and I then asked for a refund.
Can you imagine that this man reported me to the police and told them many lies about me? The police then came to my place and told me that the District Police Officer wanted to see me for what had been filed as a “civil disagreement”.
When I got to the police station, I was approached multiple times by policemen speaking Yoruba, and each time I mentioned that I didn’t speak or understand Yoruba, they left me. I waited from morning until 10 p.m. when some of the police officers drove me away to a different area that I knew nothing about. They then forced me at gunpoint to transfer money to them. I managed to do it, but getting over what happened took me a while.
Luckily, a new job offer came (which is the job I have with Volvo now). They arranged my visa and all the other details. The only thing I did was do data “capturing” at the Swedish embassy.
Why did you choose Poland for your vacation?
I went there because I have people there. I have a friend doing a Master’s degree and a friend based in Poland with his wife and kids. So my rationale was, “Since you have people there, why don’t you make this the first out-of-country visit?” I mean, I could have gone to Stockholm or anywhere in Sweden. But I needed the out-of-country experience and to see my long-time friends.
Nice! How did the vacation go?
My friend in Poland told me that if I pay the hotel bills physically, it’s usually cheaper than paying online. So, on a Saturday, I sent the money to her, and she helped me book a hotel in Gdynia. I then booked my round trip and went to the airport, but my flight was delayed for an hour. We then landed at around 12:15 a.m. or thereabouts on Sunday morning. I took a Bolt cab to the hotel. I met my friend, who showed me my room and key (no one was at the reception desk), and she later left with the Bolt driver since her place was quite a distance from the hotel.
Later that morning, I got my friend to call a taxi to church (since I didn’t speak Polish). I met more faces at the church, including my nursery school classmate, whom I hadn’t met for several years. I then returned to the hotel and took a walk in the evening.
I’d say everything remained calm until Tuesday morning. Being someone strict on hygiene, I couldn’t use the two towels that hadn’t been changed since my arrival. I also wondered why no cleaner had been in my room since my arrival. And most importantly, I now needed hot water. I couldn’t do without it.
With these questions in mind, I went downstairs to look for someone, and lo and behold, there was a man at the reception desk this time. Using Google Translate (as I couldn’t understand Polish), I politely asked for hot water, which they said would be ready in ten minutes. I also asked for the towels to be changed and cleaned, and the man scoffed at me. He said that I shouldn’t expect much, as the hotel wasn’t “5-star”, which was absurd to me…
Wait what?
Yes o. I would need to pay extra for those basic services to be rendered.
I was appalled, but even then, I returned to my room and told my friend, who had booked it for me, what had happened.
Not long after, two ladies flung the door of my room open and started to push me back towards the reception. Through Google Translate, I realised they thought the room I had paid for was for two people instead of one.
I tried to explain that she was only my friend who helped me book, but all to no avail. They thought I was lying. It even reached the point where I dared them to look through CCTV footage to show that I was the only person and call the police, but they weren’t convinced. I should also say that while looking at the CCTV footage, I peeked at the register, and I also happened to be the only black man in the hotel, or at least in that wing anyway. They “helped me” pack my luggage and bring it downstairs, insulting me and calling me words like “cheating black nigger”. I had to look then for another hotel in another town in Poland to spend the rest of my visit.
Only after I could settle in did I realise that my watch and some money were missing, and these items were in my box before the incident.
So sorry about this. I hope this didn’t ruin your entire stay.
No, it didn’t. I still visited some landmarks in Poland but didn’t stay long after that. I left a day after the incident.
Would you ever go back to Poland?
No, and I’ll never ask someone to book a hotel for me. Not because I don’t want them to, but because I don’t want them in the crossfire when I take legal action. The people of Poland need to fix up one thing—their hospitality.
For a while now, retirees of the Nigerian Police Force have appealed to the National Assembly to pass the Police Pension Bill, which would exclude them from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). Without trying to stoke false optimism, it looks like they’ve finally gotten the answers to their prayers.
What is the latest on the Police Pension Bill?
On Tuesday, May 6, the Senate passed the Bill to establish a Police Pension Board. This Bill excludes members of the Nigerian Police Force from the CPS and returns them to the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).
The “Defined Benefit” pension scheme means the government is solely responsible for paying pensions to retirees. Under this scheme, retirees are entitled to a specific amount based on their years of service, retirement age, and terminal salary, as opposed to the Contributory Pension Scheme introduced in 2004, where the employer and employee contribute monthly pension and retirement benefits. Initially, as part of pension reforms under the Pension Reform Act of 2004, the government transitioned police officers to the Contributory Pension Scheme, which also includes all public servants.
Why did police officers want this Bill in the first place?
Before now, the Nigeria Police Pension Office (NPPO) oversaw the payment of pensions and gratuities to retired police officers. And they functioned under the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the pension administrator for retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
However, over the years, the NPPO has been plagued with cases of corruption and mismanagement. In 2013, a High Court in Abuja sentenced Yakubu Yusuf, a Director of the Police Pension Office, to six years imprisonment or the option of a fine of ₦750,000 for spending ₦23.3 billion meant for pensioners for personal use.
In 2020, six public officials were re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a High Court in Abuja over their involvement in a ₦64.6 billion police pension scam.
And beyond the corruption in the NPPO, police officers say the CPS system has faults that have impoverished the lives of police retirees, as the retirement benefits are meagre compared to what would have been received under the DBS. The level of trust in the system is low.
For instance, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) take home #25,000 and ₦29,000, respectively, as a monthly pension. In contrast, officers in the same rank under the Defined Benefits System would receive between ₦106,000 and ₦120,000 as their monthly pension. DBS covers pensioners who existed before the Pension Reform Act of 2004 was enacted.
So far, PENCOM, the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, and other stakeholders oppose the new Bill, claiming it’ll cost the federal government about ₦ 2 trillion in pension liabilities to cater for 300,000 police officers.
On the other hand, Alkali Baba, the representative of the Deputy General of Police, Sanusi Lemu, says that the new Bill would boost the morale of police officers treated unfairly under the CPS.
There is a strong shared sense of optimism among police officers about this bill, believing that it has the potential to redefine policing in a positive manner and enhance the lives of both active officers and retirees. We hope this legislation will enable police officers to live and work with greater ease and an improved quality of life, particularly for retirees.
The former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, is in the news. Social media users have been critiquing his comments during the week regarding his state’s governorship election. Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a tightly fought election. El-Rufai spoke about his party leveraging Islamic religious sentiments to give Sani victory at the polls.
El-Rufai was addressing Muslim clerics in Kaduna at an event where he was handing over to Sani. The speech, which was in Hausa, has been transcribed by Premium Times. Here’s the transcript below:
Transcript
“Why did I pick Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe as my deputy in 2019? First, I calculated that most of those, not Muslims, don’t vote for our party. Most of them. So, why should I give them the deputy (governor) position? I did my calculation, and I knew we could win the election without giving them (the position of deputy governor). That’s first. That’s a purely political issue. It’s politics. You want to win an election and seek people to vote for you. We have observed that since we started practising democracy, we know places we used to win elections and those places we don’t. We’ve done that calculation politically. That’s the political point of it.
Secondly, what we wanted to prove to people, and thank God in the last four years, we’ve vindicated ourselves and proved that a government that has a Muslim as governor, a Muslim as deputy governor, a Muslim as SSG (secretary of state government), a Muslim as chief of staff, a Muslim as finance commissioner, we’ll not cheat Christians in Kaduna State. And everywhere we go, we tell them, Yes, that’s it; the top government hierarchy in Kaduna State are Muslims, but can any Christian in Kaduna prove that we’ve oppressed them? Is there any district that we didn’t renovate schools? Is there any district we didn’t construct a hospital? Anywhere that we didn’t build roads? Is there anywhere we didn’t help farmers, whether they voted for us? We’ve given everyone their entitlements.
Of course, Kubau (Local Government Area) voted for us the most (in Northern Kaduna), so I’ll add something to Kubau because they voted for us. What I’ll give Jaba, I’ll increase it for Kubau because Jaba didn’t vote for us. But we’ve given them their entitlements.
You, Imams and Ulamas, taught us that leadership in Islam is all about justice. The Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions lived with those that were not Muslims, including Jews, Christians and even pagans, but they addressed him as El-Amin (trusted one) because he treated them with fairness. Caliphs like Abubakar, Umar, Usman, and Ali did justice to those who were not Muslims. Nobody can say he was oppressed for not being a Muslim. But you’ll prefer the ones who support you. But don’t oppress any.
I always tell them. During this campaign season, they said “this and that,” and I replied ‘Yes, we’re looking for those who can deliver. We’re not looking at your religion. Of course, we consider the religious aspect, but I can’t say that. But what I am saying is, who is being oppressed? Open up and tell us if this government has treated you unjustly. No answer. Well, no one can say he is used to being engaged in criminal activities, used to being idle, but we stopped that. Or you were used to blocking the road, and we said if you do it again, this will be the consequences, and you know we can do it.
That’s what we’ve done for four years, myself and my team. And that’s what we still did, and Senator Uba Sani and Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe still won their election (as governor and deputy) even with the religious gang up against us. You, the Imams and Ulamas here, were the ones who did the work, not even the politicians, because the politicians even betrayed us. And he, Senator Uba Sani, knows this. We know it. We’re aware of those who collected money on election day but switched off their phones, slept off and didn’t even bother to come out for the election. But we know the First Aid group members that served as polling agents.
Those we paid to protect the votes didn’t do so, but the first aid group members did. And we’re grateful for that, and may God reward you and how you dedicated yourself and supported us. In the name of God, I beg you to support Senator Uba Sani when he finishes his first four years. Re-elect him into office. Then we can continue to prove to people that Islamic leadership doesn’t discriminate but doesn’t condone deliberate mocking. It doesn’t condone indignity. That’s the only thing we want to prove, and we’ve started, but this is not the end; we’ll have to do it for at least twenty years, which will make everyone understand.
After Uba finishes his tenure and gets re-elected, that’ll be sixteen, right? (El Rufai served two terms of eight years as governor). Then we’ll have another tenure which will make it 24 years. That is when everyone will understand and say, ‘Okay, we understand, we know our status, and we know the Muslims will not oppress us.’ That’s it. And you’ll see that there will be peace. I swear to God, this has been our plan from the first day we started APC in the state, and God has been helping us with your prayers and commitment. We’re on the right path. May God bless you all.”
On June 5, 2023, Nigerian Army troops discovered and rescued 21 pregnant women, a woman, two babies, a generator, and a stretcher with food items. They acted on an anonymous tipoff and raided a building in Umunkpei Nvosi, Abia State, to make this happen.
The survivors were held hostage in a building used for child trafficking. These types of buildings are commonly referred to as “baby factories.” Sadly, this is not the first time Nigerians have heard troubling realities like this happening nationwide.
Women rescued from the baby factory in Abia State [Authority Newspaper]
Items recovered during a baby factory raid in Abia State [Punch Newspapers]
Unfortunately, with this latest raid, the troops couldn’t arrest the actual leader of the illicit operations. Only Katherine Onyechi Ngwama, a chef working at the facility, was arrested. There has been no comment on how Katherine started working there or how much she knows about operations at the baby factory.
What’s next for the women and children?
The women and children have been admitted for medical treatments and assessments at a private health institution affiliated with the Catholic Church in Abia state.
Survivors in hospital bed [PUNCH Newspapers]
One of the pregnant women has delivered a baby at the hospital, and two more are expecting to deliver their babies in the coming weeks. Christian Anokwuru, the hospital’s provost, revealed this to the press.
On June 6, Priscilla Otti, the wife of the new governor of Abia State, visited the women. She assured them of post-natal care and support as they navigate their recovery. Faith-based organisations will partner with the state to make this happen.
Abia First Lady in picture with one of the children [Business Hallmark]
Nigeria has a baby factory crisis. One that demands immediate and widespread attention across all states. The alarming prevalence of these illicit operations calls for more attention to tackle this grave issue.
Do you know it is the third most common crime in Nigeria?
In February 2023, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) reported 921 child victims of trafficking rescued in Nigeria. And according to a 2006 UNESCO report, child trafficking is Nigeria’s third most common crime after drug trafficking and economic fraud.
It is worthy of note that child trafficking is just one of the many atrocities that occur within baby factories. These facilities are also notorious for facilitating organ trafficking. Incidents of ritual killings tend to occur in such buildings.
Do you have ideas on how we can serve you better? Tell us now!
The Act criminalises child trafficking operations, with a sentence of seven years and a fine of nothing less than one million naira for offenders.
Citizens also have a role to play. We must report more cases of child trafficking to the necessary authorities. Government and private organisations must develop more apps and platforms like NAPTIP’s iReport app that help people report related cases. You can also support civil societies like the Devatop Centre for Africa Development, which fights against human trafficking through the training and education of volunteers.
Today, June 7, President Bola Tinubu officially swore in George Akume as the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). The Benue-born senator was initially announced to take on the role on June 2 alongside Femi Gbajabiamila, who’ll be Tinubu’s Chief of Staff. Akume’s fame among many young Nigerians is still in training, so who is George Akume, and what do we know about his new role?
[Akume (L) Tinubu (M) and Gbajamiamila(R) / The Cable]
Who is George Akume?
Akume was born on December 27, 1953. He hails from the Wannune Tarka Council Area of Benue state. Akume was a former governor of the state from May 1999 to May 2007—the same time as Tinubu, who was then governor of Lagos state. He ran under the flag of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). After office, he served as the Benue North-West Senatorial District senator from 2007 to 2019. In 2011, he defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which was the brainchild of Tinubu. He served as the minority leader of the Senate between 2011 and 2015.
Akume ran again under the now-merged All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 and won. He ran again in 2019 but lost his seat to the PDP. Former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs that year. Having bid his time and supported Tinubu’s candidature, Akume has now been rewarded with the position of SGF.
What does the SGF do?
Under the Tinubu administration, Akume takes over a position that Boss Mustapha previously held while working with our former president, Buhari. The SGF’s mandate is to:
Monitor and coordinate the implementation of government policies and programmes.
Serve as the frontline advisory institution of the Presidency.
Drive policy formulation, harmonisation, and implementation.
Handling constitutional, political, and economic issues referred to it.
Providing support services to Administrative Tribunals, Commissions, and Panels of Inquiry.
Coordinating national security and public safety matters.
Protocol
Dealing with matters concerning the conditions of service of political office holders.
Processing appointments to the leadership positions of statutory bodies, commissions, and agencies.
Overseeing National Honours Awards.
Handling petitions and appeals addressed to the president.
Processing requests for approval of duty tours and medical treatment abroad.
Liaising with Secretaries to State Governments.
Providing office accommodation and support services to political office holders.
Are there any controversies surrounding Akume?
Akume has his fair share of political controversies. They go all the way back to his time as governor when he was accused of corruption. In 2013, Akume was embroiled in a certificate forgery suit brought against him by an indigene of Benue state. At the time, he was the Senate Minority Leader. However, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and his alumni, the University of Ibadan, cleared him of any forgery allegations.
In October 2021, the Benue state government petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to investigate Akume over allegations of fraud to the tune of ₦4.56 billion.
How have reactions to his appointment been?
Akume’s appointment has elicited mixed reactions from political analysts. On the one hand, some describe his appointment as a “round peg in a round hole.” On the other hand, critics say Tinubu’s appointment of Akume means it will be “business as usual.”
With his history as a political journeyman, what Akume brings to this new role remains to be seen. For his sake and Nigeria’s, we hope he performs well.
On May 29, 2023, a kingmaker finally became king as Bola Ahmed Tinubu was inaugurated as Nigeria’s 16th president. However, it’s been barely six days since the grand commander of the BAT army has been in power, and we don dey see different levels of shege.
Let’s look at some key things that happened in Tinubu’s first week as Nigeria’s president.
Bye-bye to fuel subsidy
During Tinubu’s inaugural speech, he announced the removal of fuel subsidy, and this has caused nationwide panic as the price of fuel and transportation has doubled, queues are gradually returning to filling stations across the country, and many Nigerians are discovering that trekking has many health benefits.
You and I know that the problem isn’t in the fuel subsidy removal, because it would have happened sooner or later, but in how the announcement was made. Tinubu went off-script by proclaiming that the fuel subsidy was gone instead of stating it would be “phased out”. Also, no provisions have been implemented to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal. This is leading Nigerians to expect the worst from his administration.
We have a new Chief of Staff
On June 2, Femi Gbajabiamila, the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, was announced as the new Chief of Staff to the President.
Nigeria’s dollar bonds surged
Tinubu’s fuel subsidy announcement has a bright side — it caused Nigeria’s dollar bonds to gain value. Bonds are like IOUs or promises. When Nigeria needs money, it can issue bonds to borrow money from people or investors. These bonds are in dollars. Now, why is the surge a good thing?
When the bonds rise in value, more people are interested in buying them. This shows that investors have confidence in Nigeria and believe it will repay the borrowed money. It also means that Nigeria can borrow money at better terms, helping the country’s economy and government finances in the long run. Although we lowkey don’t want the new government accumulating more debt, we’re yet to recover from the one Buhari put us in.
Tinubu’s baddie doesn’t belong in the other room
One thing we won’t miss about former President Bubu is how he always served us international disgrace. We’ll never forget his “My wife belongs to my kitchen, living room and my other room” speech. But it looks like Tinubu is more open-minded about gender roles.
On June 1, pictures of his wife, our First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, sitting in on a meeting between the President, vice-president Kashim Shettima, CBN governor Emefiele Godwin, and group chief executive officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, emerged on the internet. We can at least give Tinubu points for being progressive by being present with his wife in an economic meeting.
While things aren’t starting off on a high note with the new government, hopefully they will pull a miracle that shocks all their haters.
What else happened this week?
The Nigerian Customs Service Embraces Technology
If you’ve ever been to a federal agency, you’ll first realise how tedious many processes are because they failed to modernise their system of operation.
Thankfully, this is going to change soon, particularly for the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), as on June 2, the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd), inaugurated a $3.2 billion modernization project to end manual operations. This project is geared towards fully automating the NCS, improving transparency and effectiveness, and eliminating corruption.
The project is expected to last over 20 years and generate over $200 billion in revenue.
Video of the week
Former President Goodluck Jonathan recently shared his thoughts on Nigeria’s electoral system.
If you’ve been religiously following the “Northern Nigeria Invasion” series, I have a bottle of wine to congratulate you. This is where we draw the curtain on it. However, key highlights from the two events we’ve covered are Lord Lugard’s British invasion of Northern Nigeria and the capture of the Bida and Yola Emirates.
Catch up:
The British Empire declared Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900 but had no territorial control. They needed to gain power over the region due to the fear of European rivals outsmarting them and to gain the local leaders’ respect.
To do this, they called upon Frederick Dealtry Lugard, who grew from a British soldier to High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria in 1900.
After the official proclamation, he sent a memo to the Sarkin Muslmi, or King of the Sokoto Caliphate, to which there was no reply. This led to a rampage from Lugard to depose various emirates in the Caliphate.
Amongst the lands he captured were the emirates of Bida and Yola. Bida fell due to a rebellion and their eventual alliance with the Royal Niger Company (RNC). Yola was captured due to the defiance of the Lamido, Zubaryu, who escaped capture from the British. The Lala tribe from Bornu State later killed him.
For today, take your straws to sip the last drink and dive deep into what ultimately ended the Sokoto Caliphate—the fall of the Kano and Sokoto emirates.
The Fall of Kano – January 1903
A view of a part of Kano City (Inside the Wall) [New York Public Library]
We must backtrack to Lugard’s feud with Sarkin Musulmi in 1900 to understand how Kano fell. His revenge mission against the launch started because the Sarki refused to respond to Britain’s proclamation of the North as a protectorate.
Lugard as colonial administrator, Northern Nigeria [Britannica]
In 1902, Lugard finally received his long-awaited reply from the Sarki, but it wasn’t what he expected. Originally written in Arabic, the message says:
“From us to you. I do not consent that anyone from you should ever dwell with us.No agreement can ever be made with you. I will have nothing ever to do with you….This is with salutations.”
However, scholars believe the message was sent to Lugard’s second in command, Commissioner Wallace, instead of him.
How did Lugard launch the war?
You must know that for Lugard to start a war, he needed the support of Britain’s Colonial Office in London, and those folks were not ready to engage in more battles without a reasonable cause. Lugard, knowing this, eventually got his chance when a British resident at Keffi, Kano, Captain Moloney, was killed under “mysterious circumstances.”
And who better to blame for the murder than the warrior chief of Keffi, Dan Yamusa? It didn’t help that Yamusa was already openly defiant of Britain’s rule in the North.
The Sarki’s letter and Moloney’s murder were enough for Lugard to launch a war. And even though there was a window for negotiations with the new Sarkin Muhammadu Attahiru after the death of Abdurrahman, Lugard wasn’t having it.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Religious Head of Hausaland [Getty Images]
He wanted to assert authority and was bent on using Kano to prove his point.
The Battle of Kano
To make his reasons for war convincing to the Colonial Office, Lugard claimed that the emir of Kano, Aliyu, was marching with warriors to attack the West African Frontier (WAF).
But in reality, the Emir was on the march—but only to pay homage to the new Sarki at Sokoto, hundreds of miles away. And even though the British didn’t buy Lugard’s excuse for a war, that wouldn’t deter him from his goal of total Northern Nigeria dominance.
However, Lugard still had a major problem—the walls of Kano. These walls were specially designed for defence, with a 40 feet thick base and 30 to 50 feet high. The city also had ditches and cultivated farmland inside its walls, which the people could use to feed themselves in cases of siege.
The Ancient Walls of Kano [Naija Biography]
Surprisingly, Lugard’s captain, Colonel Morland, found little to no resistance from the Kano army due to the Emir’s absence. They blew a hole in the wall, stormed the city, stormed the Emir’s palace, and hoisted the Union Jack (the de facto national flag of the UK of Great Britain) on top of the city walls.
The Fall of Kano [Kano Chronicle/Twitter]
No British soldier was killed, and only 14 of them were wounded. Lugard then appointed the Emir’s younger brother as the new emir.
Up next on Lugard’s hit list was Sokoto
The Conquest of Sokoto Caliphate – March 1903
In February 1903, Colonel Morland wrote a letter to Sarkin Attahiru informing him of the fall of Kano and their anticipated attack on Sokoto.
“Sir Thomas Morland” [The Great War by Ed H.W. Wilson]
Attahiru replied by informing Morland that he would consult with his advisers and get back to him, but they could never conclude between negotiation, battle, or outward defeat. With their inaction, Morland’s army proceeded to march into Sokoto.
The War Against Sokoto Caliphate [LitCAF]
“We chase and kill until there are no living men”
On March 14, 1903, Britain fought with the Sokoto Caliphate outside the city walls. Fighting without the safety of their walls was a grave mistake for the Sokoto army, as they were no match for the British artillery and machine guns.
However, the Sokoto army did not give up but stayed valiant until the end. They took the green flag of the Sarki into battle, and every time the flag bearer was shot, another would take his place—until all the flagbearers were dead. After the battle, the British infantry chased down what was left of the survivors and killed them. They also hacked legs and arms off corpses to take items of value. In a British soldier’s words:
“We chase and kill till the area is clear of living men — and we tire of blood and bullets.”
Comparatively, the casualties on the side of the British were remarkably small. Only two of their forces were killed—a carrier and a soldier.
The Aftermath
Sarkin Attahiru survived the battle and fled. Lugard asked Sokoto officials to nominate a new Sarki, and they eventually chose a ruler named Attahiru. In a March 21, 1903, proclamation, Lugard told the people that even though they could practise their religion, all independent Fulani rule had ended. The British system of government was here to stay.
What happened to Attahiru?
He was still on the run alongside Kano’s former Emir, Aliyu. While in exile, Attahiru was able to garner supporters from surrounding villages. This was due to the anger of the indigenes towards the British for deposing the head of their religion.
The British saw Attahiru’s fame and survival as a threat, and despite trying to capture the former Sarki six times at Burmi in the Borno Empire, all their efforts were in vain. In one of the battles, the British army got hit with poisoned arrows, which gravely injured two soldiers and six horses. To ease the two soldiers’ deaths, their colleagues shot them.
Electricity is a vital part of our day-to-day lives. And it’s not news that the Nigerian power sector has reached a point where divine intervention might be needed, especially with how the national grid collapses every other day.
Some challenges the power sector faces are insufficient power generation and gas supply, transmission and distribution constraints and poor policy enforcement. However, beyond this, Nigerians also contribute to the power sector crisis by partaking in electricity theft.
What is electricity theft?
Electricity theft is simply stealing or “tapping” electricity through illegal connections, and this has become a significant source of revenue loss for electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), over 25% of the energy transmitted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is lost to theft and other technical issues. In 2020, DisCos announced that they had lost over ₦30 billion monthly due to electricity theft and vandalism; in 2018, the Association of Electricity Distributors (ANED) estimated the revenue loss due to electricity theft and vandalism to be about ₦155.89 billion.
This method is popularly called “tapping electricity, ” which is done by connecting a service wire to an overhead electricity cable. This connection can also be made underground. This connection increases the load to generating stations and the electricity bill of other consumers.
Metre bypass and tampering
This typically involves manipulating the installed prepaid metre so it doesn’t reflect the actual amount of electricity consumed.
It’s important to know that electricity theft is not without consequences as it increases the risk of fire hazards and overloads the power grid, which causes power outages and destruction of properties. And unfortunately, these adverse effects aren’t limited to just those complicit in electricity theft; innocent people would also be affected.
What does the Law say about Electricity theft?
In 2013, NERC made the Electricity Theft and Other Related Offences Regulations serve as a deterrent. According to Section 1(1) of the regulation, “any person who willfully and unlawfully taps or makes any connection with overhead, underground or underwater lines or cables, or tampers with a metre or uses any other method to interfere with accurate or proper registration, calibration or metering of electric current shall be guilty of an offence under Sections 383 and 400 of the Criminal Code. Such people shall also be guilty under Section 286(2) of the Penal Code Section 1 of this Regulation. They shall be punishable with terms of imprisonment as applicable, provided under Sections 390 of the Criminal Code, Section 287 of the Penal Code or Section 94 of the EPSR Act.”
The Electric Power Sector Reform Act (2005) also states that anyone who willfully removes or destroys equipment or apparatus of a licensee commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for not less than five years and not more than seven years.
Lastly, the Miscellaneous Offences Act states that anyone found unlawfully tampering, meddling or disconnecting electricity equipment used for transforming and converting electricity is liable on conviction to be sentenced for life.
Electricity theft is one of the crimes that certainly needs more attention from the government as it’d go a long way in improving the quality of electricity supply in Nigeria and ending the loss of revenue in the sector.
May 29, 2023, marked the beginning of a new administration in Nigeria, not only at the federal level but across various states.
In their first week in office, Nigerians have already begun to give the new administration the bombastic side-eye for the recent increase in fuel prices, and residents of Kano State are struggling with mixed emotions regarding the recent demolition spree that their new governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, undertook. It’s giving who this?
What exactly is happening in Kano?
On government-owned lands that Abdullahi Ganduje, the former governor of Kano state sold, a task force under the direction of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf started demolishing buildings early on June 3, 2023. The buildings affected so far include:
A three-storey building with 90 shops along the Kano Race Course, popularly known as Filin Sukuwa.
Source: Abdulrasheed Hussain/Citizen
Daula Hotel: the three-star hotel consisted of 50 rooms, a restaurant, and four executive rooms, among other facilities.
Source: Abdulrasheed Hussain/Citizen
Former Kano governor, Adbdullahi Ganduje, commissioned the Daula hotel nine days ago, on May 27, 2023.
Source: Abdulrasheed Hussain/Citizen
Structures on the Hajj camp were also demolished, and orders were given out to all developers to stop construction.
What’s the reason behind the demolitions?
Governor Abba Yusuf, through his chief press secretary, Sanusi Bature, insists that the exercise is to fulfil his campaign promise to solve the land-grabbing issue in Kano state, especially as his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje, sold many public properties and assets. However, many residents think that the ongoing demolitions are acts of vendetta, with claims that Ganduje sold these properties to his relatives and close associates.
Let’s feel the pulse
Citizen contacted Engineer Rabiu Sufi, who owns Lamash Properties, the developers of Daula Hotel, and he gave background on the situation. Sufi said his company had entered into a partnership agreement under the Ganduje administration to redevelop the Old Daula Hotel, and “on the successful restoration of the hotel, former governor Abdullahi Ganduje commissioned the project two days before the end of his administration.”
He laments that the building was demolished without prior warning. Before the redevelopment, the Daula Hotel had been out of official use for over 25 years, and residents claimed that drug-abusing individuals had turned it into their makeshift den. The Daula hotel was expected to help with employment and generate revenue for the state.
Sufi, over a phone call, says they’re already taking steps to sue the Kano state government and demand ₦10 billion as compensation.
What are people in Kano saying?
Aisha, a resident of Hotoro, expressed surprise at the swift demolition, considering that the new governor had taken office only a week ago. “The entire situation is really sad as it has turned youths to looting. Do you know that there are memes encouraging people to loot demolished shops?” she shared with Citizen.
Muhammed, who lives in Brigade, thinks the demolitions are signs that the Abba Yusuf-led government will be active. According to him, “more expectations have developed regarding what he could do to other critical areas that require a similar effort,” while applauding the new governor
While the Kano state government’s intention to curb land grabbing and reclaim public assets is viewed positively, residents remain sceptical, perceiving it as politically motivated retaliation against the former governor. Many residents also criticise the approach, considering it wasteful to destroy valuable properties. Instead, the buildings, worth billions of naira, could have been reclaimed as government property on government land. However, there is still optimism for a brighter future in Kano under the new administration.
This report was made possible with the invaluable assistance of Abdulrasheed Hussain, a journalist and news editor from Kano State. Hussain’s contributions included providing sources, visiting the sites, capturing photographs, and facilitating interviews with residents of the state to better understand the situation.
25-year-old Benson Ikiowori would never have anticipated the soldier’s bullet that ended his life on June 1, 2023.
Bayelsa Community Moves to Shut Down Conoil Facility After Soldiers Killed Peaceful Protester [Daily Report Nigeria]
His “crime,” like that of other young people in the Sangana Community of Bayelsa State, was protesting at the Consolidated Oil and Gas Limited-run Oil Mining Lease 59 oil mine. CONOIL is a well-known Nigerian company.
This protest led to Benson’s death, the injuries of several other youth indigenes, and the reported disappearance of two youths. Many residents claim that security personnel from the army responsible for protecting the vicinity are responsible for these sad occurrences.
But what was the protest for?
The delayed implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CONOIL and the Sangana community caused the protest.
The failure of the oil company to execute the MoU after 25 years of operations in the area has amounted to an estimate of N420 million worth of projects being owed to the Sangana Community.
As per the Community Development Chairman (CDC) of Sangana, Comrade Reuben Preboye, whose comments featured in various national publications, “The MoU is for three years and is subject to renewal. The 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022 MoUs have not been implemented and have accumulated over N300 million to N420 million worth of projects.”
Preboye also mentioned that CONOIL has refused to meet quarterly with the youths this year. They have also refused to ensure medical treatment for victims of a major gas leak from their operations in June 2022.
CONOIL suspected in pollution of Sangana [Environmental Rights Action]
The CONOIL-Sangana Fallout
Benson’s death and CONOIL’s alleged continued negligence have only led to more protests in the region.
On June 3, with protesters holding placards such as “Why kill an innocent youth?” and “25 years of operation in Sangana, nothing to show for it”, tensions are high for the petroleum company to listen to their demands.
Youths protesting Benson Ikiowori’s death in Sangana, Bayelsa [Sahara Reporters]
With these protests, CONOIL has two options. One, address the lingering issues and compensate victims; and two, stop operations and evacuate the area.
But despite the mounting pressure, CONOIL has not yet addressed the issue at hand. Major Adenegan Ojo, the spokesperson for Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), did not respond to our attempts to obtain comments. It is believed that OPDS could have shed light on the motivations behind the violent actions carried out by army security operatives.
Unfortunately, the Sangana Community is one of many oil communities in the South-South region that have suffered from pollution. This is due to oil giant operations. This also comes with records of tensions brewing high this year.
Now, which way forward?
In Nigeria’s history, oil companies, especially those with foreign affiliations, are known for exploiting oil-rich communities’ resources. In doing this, they often do not keep their end of the bargain. So much is expected of CONOIL given its “home value,” with Mike Adenuga being the owner.
We hope the government will do its best to ensure peacekeeping, that institutions that hold all petroleum organisations accountable will do their due diligence, and that citizens’ needs are a priority. We need to see stiffer penalties on oil companies that fail to abide by laws and hold themselves accountable.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has announced that following the removal of the fuel subsidy, it will embark on a nationwide strike on Wednesday, June 7.
[NNPC filling station / Premium Times]
Despite the general acceptance that the subsidy had to go—particularly from the leading presidential candidates, including the Labour Party (and, by extension, the labour union), the NLC insists on a strike. So what’s happening, and what’s the way forward?
The labour unions’ position
On June 4, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) shunned a meeting with the government delegate chosen to address the subsidy matter. The meeting had in attendance the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, Dele Alake, and Adams Oshiomole, among others. The TUC said they boycotted the meeting because the representatives had no official authority to negotiate on the government’s behalf.
[NLC / Premium Times]
From the viewpoint of the labour unions, the government doesn’t respect them.
According to Joe Ajaero, the NLC president, the meeting had no purpose. In a TV interview on Sunday, Ajaero said:
“Of what use is today’s meeting? As of Tuesday night, I had a meeting with the president of the TUC and some other government officials. I told the NNPCL MD that increasing the pump price would be considered war.”
The TUC said they want a minimum wage increase, tax holidays for certain groups of workers, and a return to the previous petrol pump price of ₦195 per litre while negotiations are ongoing.
The government’s position
One man who may know more than anyone about strikes and subsidy removal is former NLC president Adams Oshiomole. Having fought on both sides of the divide, he was on TV after the boycotted meeting with the trade unions to share his insights about the subsidy removal.
[Adams Oshiomole / Ripples]
Oshiomole believes the labour unions have every right to be aggrieved. He argued that if the subsidy removal could save up to ₦6 trillion, the government could use the savings to fix infrastructural deficits and ensure that lecturers never embark on strike. Oshiomole repeatedly said during the interview that he wasn’t the government spokesperson. So why was he negotiating with the trade unions on the government’s behalf?
Oshiomole said some possible proposals to cushion the fuel price hike include increasing the minimum wage. He also spoke on providing tax breaks so workers pay less taxes and increase their take-home pay. Oshiomole said the government was considering providing buses, which could reduce transport costs.
A good faith gesture
Another meeting between the parties is scheduled for Tuesday before Wednesday’s looming strike.
That said, Tinubu has had a shaky start to his office. Despite saying he’d like to emulate former president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, his actions since assuming office have been markedly opposite. In Yar’Adua’s inaugural speech, he admitted that the process that brought him to power was flawed. Tinubu, by contrast, said his election was “fairly won.”
[Bola Tinubu/ Punch]
Unlike Yar’Adua, who publicly declared his assets, Tinubu is unlikely to do so, possibly only before the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Yar’Adua brought down the pump price while in office, and Tinubu’s first act was to declare that the “fuel subsidy is gone”. It’s now time for Tinubu to lead by example.
Tinubu’s big challenge is making Nigerians see that he’s in the grind with them and empathises with their suffering. It’s not enough to say you’ll remove subsidies. In what way are you also making sacrifices?
His wife has already said they don’t need Nigeria’s money. How about taking a salary cut himself? It’s a symbolic gesture showing Nigerians he has skin in the game. He can appeal to the national assembly, dominated by members of his party, to take salary cuts, which drain our treasury.
Beyond the above, providing palliatives for the most vulnerable must be done transparently. He must pay critical attention to power generation and distribution, which drive demand for fuel consumption. Tinubu must also get his cabinet up and running as soon as possible so they can devise a plan to manage the economy.
The ball is in Tinubu’s court. He wanted this task from day one; here’s his opportunity to prove he’s up to it.
What age were you when you started secondary school? If you were younger than 11 years old, you might be one of the last of your kind.
The federal government wants to stop underage children from writing the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for admission into secondary schools across Nigeria.
Naturally, not everyone is aligned.
The Case for Age Restrictions
David Adejo, the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, said students need to reach an appropriate age before taking the NCEE. While monitoring the conduct of the 2023 NCEE, he expressed his concern upon seeing three nine-year-olds sitting for the exam, stating, “We are teaching the children the wrong values.”
Adejo argues that education extends beyond passing exams; it involves teaching, learning, and character formation. By restricting admission to students at least 12 years old, the government aims to ensure that students possess the cognitive and emotional readiness necessary to navigate the challenges of secondary education effectively.
Some supporters agree with Adejo. Wemimo, who entered secondary school at 9 and started university at 15, shares his experience of feeling out of place and “inexperienced.”
Wemimo believes young students face risks because they may be more vulnerable to negative influences and lack the maturity to make informed decisions.
On social media, proponents of age restrictions point out that an undue emphasis on ticking boxes and acquiring certificates at a young age may detract from the holistic development of children.
While the government’s decision prioritises the well-being of young learners, concerns dey regarding their future job prospects.
Funmi, who attended a federal unity college and got in at 11 years old, says age restriction in federal schools has always been a thing, even though on rare occasions she had younger classmates, and that she feels the reason age restriction exists is that “things were slower, but now, everything is evolving so fast.”
She says, “These kids [at the moment] even appear bigger than their ages; they learn so fast. We all learn differently. Kids of 5 are doing well in Mathematics, English Language and have coordinated tenses, so bringing it to 9 years for a well-developed child isn’t so bad so long the child isn’t deliberately rushed to suit whatever purpose.”
The possibility of being highly employable at a young age influences Funmi’s concern. “I intend to make my kids have a faster education cos early education is more advantageous.” She said, “They could deviate into other things quite early in life too. I had classmates of younger ages, and I’m sure they appreciate their early education.”
However, Funmi says that to address this issue, employers should recognise the value of graduate trainee programmes and offer opportunities for young professionals to gain practical experience. And they should stop requesting unrealistic work experience. “They’d just get people to lie and claim what they’re not for employment reasons, and such people could be less productive,” she added.
Funmi believes employers should make room for graduate trainees starting at 20, acknowledging that even if the government disapproves of below-age-11 admissions to government-owned secondary schools, private schools are readily available to cater to them.
Finding a Balance
The federal government’s decision to enforce age restrictions in the NCEE might reflect its commitment to the well-being and development of young learners. However, striking a balance between readiness and opportunities is crucial in crafting an educational system that fosters holistic growth, offers relevant opportunities, and equips students for success.
It is also essential to consider the challenges that lie ahead in public tertiary institutions, such as ASUU strikes, poor educational processes, and actions that frustrate students and prevent them from completing their education on time. In contrast with other parts of the world where there are records of young people achieving incredible academic feats at the tertiary level, many Nigerians will continue to share the feeling that “Nigeria no dey ever rate young talent”, as a social media user puts it, as having “archaic” norms.
Looking ahead, policymakers, educators, employers, and parents must strive to reach a consensus on an inclusive, progressive, and effective educational framework. By considering the diverse perspectives and experiences of individuals who have gone through the system, Nigeria can shape its education system to nurture young talent while addressing the challenges and opportunities of the modern world.
In this week’s Navigating Nigeria, Citizen speaks with an imam from Bauchi who shared his wild tale about visiting sex workers and encountering a trigger-happy police officer who boasted about ending his life. Through it all, the Imam believes everyone should be allowed to share their story without being judged. For him, reality is a spectrum, and morality is a construct.
Editorial Note: Navigating Nigeria is a platform for Nigerians to passionately discuss the Nigerian experience with little interference from individual opinions. While our editorial standards emphasise the truth and endeavour to fact-check claims and allegations, we are not responsible for allegations made about other people based on half-truths.
Walk us through your experience
This was in 2018. I lived in a large house in a Government Residential Area (GRA) in Bauchi. Our compound had six huge mango trees. It was also very close to the Government House. There’s this abandoned airport down the road, which also has an old air tower. It’s a fantastic spot. People come there on weekdays and weekends to play football. Some play around, go on trains or drive their cars. Nothing else happens around the area during the day.
One night, I was at home watching TV, and they told the story of a lady who got into prostitution. I remembered thinking then about how we were all part of some equation. It’s like calculus. Our environment influences what we become in the same way that deriving the function of a function changes the equation’s outcome.
I come from a society that tends to be hypocritical about sexuality. They talk about modesty so much you’d think we’re the standard. But there’s a lot of hypocrisy. You see people hiding who they are. I don’t have any trouble with homosexuals, as I understand it’s biology. I’ve seen gay men and women kissing in Bauchi. Yet there’s a lot of preaching against it as if it’s not part of the culture here. The TV documentary on prostitution inspired me to see it for myself.
I guess this is where your story takes off
I’d heard of this place called Bayan Gari. Bayan Gari, in English, means “behind the city.” It’s not really behind the city in reality. It just happens to be a place dominated by Igbos and people who aren’t core Northerners.
In the northern setting, there’s segregation between Christians and Muslims. They tend to live apart even though they’re in the same state.
I grew up in Lagos, but when I came to the North, I began to really observe this dichotomy. However, this isn’t to say that Lagos didn’t have its issues, particularly with the derogatory way of referring to anyone of Northern extraction as aboki.
Anyway, after that documentary, I decided to visit Bayan Gari to learn about and document it. I planned to immerse myself there to fully understand what was going on.
At the time, I was an imam at a local mosque. One afternoon, I drove down there using a friend’s car. It looked like a regular market, with people going about their lives and businesses. The stories I’d been told about it were that it was filled with naked prostitutes, but that’s not the picture I saw when I initially went there.
What was it like?
I debated whether I wanted to do this on my first night there. We live in a world where people get judgmental. They somehow think they’re better than others because of some norms they hold on to. But this highlights what Chimamanda has described as the danger of a single story. What about those people there? What about their lives? Do you know what they’re going through and why they’re doing what they’re doing?
I left around 9 p.m., donning a face cap and sneakers while presenting myself as what I presumed a person visiting such a place would look like. Bauchi has a cool club culture but also has other cultures, like Bayan Gari, which they don’t like to talk about.
The first thing I saw on my first night was the presence of almajiris. The term comes from Arabic and means “traveller.” Originally, almajiris were young folks supposed to grow in the way of scholars. But the whole system has been upended and now borders on exploitation everywhere in the North. I believe the practise should end.
The almajiris—young boys—were smoking cigarettes, weed, and gambling while dancing to a club banger. During the day, you’d see these kids on the streets, begging. At night, they’d come down here to flex. I was surprised to find that these happen in Bauchi.
I sat close to some guys selling porno CDs. There were ladies in their hijabs who were prostitutes. It felt like I was in a whole new world. The guys around me asked me to join them in gambling, but I didn’t answer. I felt like I didn’t belong there, so I walked around. There was a ghetto-like feel to it. Some areas were filthy. Some of the ladies there carried offensive scents.
I contrasted this with when I lived in Lagos. Then I stayed on the island.
When you go along Obalende at night, you’ll see prostitutes on the road pulling your clothes as you walk past. I didn’t see that sort of thing here. The Fulani ladies here don’t call out to you. You’d just see them drinking and smoking, ready to get in on the act.
I got back home around 11:30 p.m. No one knew where I went, not even my friends. As an imam, it would’ve been difficult to deal with the judgmental stares of folks if they’d known that I’d been to Bayan Gari.
How were you able to reconcile being an imam with visiting Bayan Gari?
Understanding science, philosophy, and history helped me navigate that.
Also, there is a verse in the Quran where Allah says, “Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, the changing of day and night are signs for those who reflect.”
That verse alone doesn’t restrict what one can explore.
I went to that place to get answers to my questions and to understand why people do what they do. There’s a talk I listened to about the psychology of evil that has a lot to do with some of the answers most of us are looking for. The key realisation here is that we all have stories. And while we think our stories are valid, others think the same about theirs too.
That sounds deep
I visited again the next day because it had stories I believed should be told. It was the same experience as the previous day. I walked around as usual and saw this very pretty Fulani girl who was a prostitute. I’m Fulani myself.
I tried to have small talk with her, but it was apparent she was high on something. I asked how much she’d charge me per hour. She told me there was no hourly payment. It was simply a matter of having sex with her till I cum. Once that happens, I’ll pay her ₦500. I didn’t know if this was a uniform rate across the board, but this was what she charged for her services.
So I asked why she was doing this. She was reluctant to answer at first, but she eventually did. She said she needed to care for her parents and fend for herself because no one could help. She’d come down to Bauchi from her village in Jos.
I felt pity for her and offered her some money. She asked if I was taking her to my apartment in Bauchi, but I had no intention of doing so.
Then I left.
When I returned home, I was in deep thought, replaying everything in my head. People have different stories, yet it’s so easy to pass judgement when you haven’t listened to them. I walked around the old tower and was in a serious philosophical mood. The old tower used to be a bubbly place used by the rich but has now become a relic of the past.
And it hit me how the past and the present are interwoven. I never asked the girl’s name, but I kept thinking about how her past and her history with poverty had shaped her present situation as a prostitute. When I left her, she returned to her friends in her high state, laughing and going about her business.
She was so pretty. I considered asking her hand in marriage to get her out of there and giving her a new slate. I wrote about it but lost it. My mind kept returning to her, and I wanted to visit that place again. I didn’t know why I suddenly wanted to become her saviour—maybe because of her story. Or because she was pretty? Or because she had an innocent look? Her face was gentle, and she had large eyes.
Hmmm
I went there again three days later. After searching for and finding her this time, I asked her name. She told me it was Aisha. I tried following her around to talk to her, but she wasn’t listening, perhaps high on some substance. She kept telling me to let her be. She left me and went to a dark corner, where another guy followed her. I kept waiting for her and hoping the guy would be done with her to make my case.
While waiting, I saw another tall, pretty girl who looked like a Shuwa Arab. I was gobsmacked.
I’d found another potential story in my head, so I approached her to ask the same questions I had asked Aisha. She told me to give her ₦5,000 for the whole night. I was only interested in hearing her story. She insisted on that amount regardless, which made me realise she was old in the game.
In the bargaining process, I sensed that ladies were clustering around me, so I removed myself. As I left, I saw the ladies come around with two policemen, who accosted me. I’d seen policemen smoking and touching girls on my earlier visits.
The policemen told me I had to pay that amount. That was unexpected; I had nothing with the lady except a discussion. I was almost outside of Bayan Gari at this point.
When they saw that I refused to pay, one of them brought out a chain and started wiping me with it.
Wawu
They had guns with them. At one point, one of them left while the other continued assaulting me. The girls, meanwhile, were laughing at the whole thing. They queued up behind the policeman while he kept beating me. I fell on my knees, pleading that I had done nothing wrong.
Some people gathered around to intervene on my behalf, but the policeman escalated matters. He lied to them, saying I was a Boko Haram member.
Ahhhh!
He said I was one of the leaders of Boko Haram in Jos and that he knew my face very well. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but I have beards. He told them I ran to Bauchi when security agents tried to track them down.
The policeman took out his gun, pointed it at my head, and said he’d shoot me, and no one would know what happened. He said no one would question him. See, my body went cold.
Fortunately, I’d withdrawn some money earlier that day, which I had on me. He put his hand in my breast pocket and took out the ₦5000 there. People started pleading with him after seeing me battered, saying he should let me go. It was after he extorted me that he eventually left with the girls.
Narrow escape
I started trekking alone that night. It was around 12:30 a.m. No bikes were on the road, and I was going to a GRA. I was thinking about everything that had happened and started laughing. When I got to Wunti market, I saw a bike man and explained my encounter with the police to him. He laughed at me and zoomed off. I wondered why no one cared to listen to or help me. In my mind, I was a good person and didn’t deserve what was meted out to me.
I walked further until I got to a mosque, where I saw another bike man sympathetic to my plight. He carried me to my gate.
What was the aftermath of your experience?
When I got in, I took off my clothes. My skin was tender with bruises, and my back was swollen. I was still shocked by the thought that a policeman was willing to pull the trigger because of ₦5,000. I was pursuing a story, but another story came at me.
None of my friends knew about this because they wouldn’t understand why I chose to go to a place known for prostitution and drug use. Many would judge me, and only a few would appreciate why I did what I did. It was only in 2020 that I shared this story with a few open-minded friends.
There are other places where people go for cheap sex, like Gwalla-meji where the federal polytechnic is located. So when I see Northerners go online to bash people for engaging in sexual activity, I consider it collective hypocrisy because it happens in our backyard.
My takeaway is that beauty exists in different formats; people experience it differently and call it different things. I see those young boys in Bayan Gari as having embraced hedonism in their own way, even though the rest of the world frowns at it.
But we should ask, how many people who frown at these things indulge in them in one way or another? People do things for reasons best known to them. We shouldn’t be too quick to judge until we hear their stories. To my mind, reality is a spectrum, and morality is a construct. This is how I choose to see the world.
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.
What does it mean to get a CGPA of 7.0 in your undergraduate degree in Nigeria only to struggle academically at one of the world’s top universities in post-grad? With two weeks to graduation, this week’s #AbroadLife subject, narrates how she eventually attained a “perfect” CGPA studying for her master’s in Computer Science at Stanford University, California, USA.
Disclaimer: This interview is being published based on anonymity (without name) to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the interviewee.
How and where did you get a 7.0?
So I schooled at the University of Ibadan (UI), and from the beginning until 2017, they’ve been using a 7.0-grade point average (GPA). They only changed it to 5.0 recently to meet up with international standards.
As to the “how”, my goal when I entered university was to get a first-class degree; I wasn’t targeting a 7.0 in the first place. In the first semester of the 100 level, I was so scared of falling behind that I was always eager to study. After the first semester, I finished with a 7.0. I was so excited, but it wasn’t groundbreaking for freshers to finish with a perfect GPA in the first semester. It was quite common. I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it was attainable.
At the end of my first year, my CGPA was still 7.0, and I began considering the possibility of maintaining that grade to the very end. I wasn’t too optimistic because I knew the courses would get harder as I advanced, but it motivated me to do my best. In my class, two other people also had the same GPA as me, which made me subconsciously accountable to someone.
My parents were people who could provide what I needed, and I didn’t have to find money to care for my siblings or parents. I was just a regular college student. I wasn’t a social butterfly.
Interesting. What was your inspiration for travelling abroad?
I wouldn’t say that I was always dreaming of going to Stanford. Once I graduated from UI in 2019, my major goal was to make enough money. I wanted to make money so bad.
After making a 7.0 CGPA, news about my achievement quickly travelled. Someone contacted me from Canada and persuaded me to apply for graduate school or a doctorate. But I wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to work, and I wanted to make money.
If not for my Aunty, who made a compelling case on how my skills wouldn’t be fully appreciated without passing through graduate school, I may have never made a move.
By then, I had already had a full-time job in Nigeria as a product manager in a tech firm immediately after school. I started to research what it takes to get admitted.
Tell us more about the process.
I then discovered that I needed to write the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), reach out to professors, get recommendation letters etc.
The process seemed quite challenging at first, but I found people who were also on the same journey as me, and we just motivated each other by solving past questions etc. Sometimes I returned from work late at night and started studying. I was targeting 320 as my GRE score, as it would ensure my entry into an Ivy League school.
Sometime in October 2019, I got 318 as my GRE score, two marks shy of my original target, which wasn’t bad for me. I then got my letters of recommendation from my professors at school, wrote my statement of purpose, and submitted most of my applications by December 15.
I got admission and full funding at Stanford University by April 15, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but I couldn’t resume school until the US Embassy reopened for my interview in November 2020. The choice of attending courses virtually wasn’t there because I got admission as a graduate teaching assistant. This required me to be physically present in the U.S. Hence the long wait.
Wow, sorry about that. How did the interview go?
Thank you, and it went well. That interview was seamless. I know how often people get rejected trying to get US visas, but thankfully that wasn’t the case for me. The interviewer didn’t stress me out at all. I just gave him my I-20 (a document you receive as proof of admission).
When he saw that I was going to Stanford, he just returned my documents and told me to go, that the F-1 visa (student visa) would be ready in about two weeks. The visa also had a two-year validity clause.
Why do you think the process was so easy?
I think it’s because I was going to an Ivy League school, and it was even Computer Science I studied and the full funding I received. I was shocked and happy because I had prepared so hard, and they never asked the questions I had prepared for. By December 2020, I travelled to the US.
What were your first experiences in America like?
As mentioned, I left Nigeria for California in December because I was so excited to leave and wanted to have at least 3 weeks to settle and prepare for school. I travelled with a friend because we would attend the same school and be placed in the same apartment.
The first thing that shocked me was the seriousness of foreigners regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. By June 2020, Nigerians were beginning to get much more lenient with precautionary measures such as face masks, and I began to get used to pulling down my face mask a lot.
However, on my Turkish Airline flight, I needed something from my friend, who was some seats away from me. I decided to stand up and walk towards him without my face mask. Suddenly, one of the passengers shouted at me to return to my seat because I was not wearing a face mask. It was so embarrassing, and I did not get the item from my friend again. I felt like a “bush” or uneducated girl. It then dawned on me that the pandemic was real here, and this wasn’t Nigeria, where precautionary measures weren’t taken seriously.
Also, people tended to cross to the other side of the road whenever I walked by, and I didn’t understand why. I wasn’t a monster, was I? I believed (and still believe) that I was a petite and pretty lady. Someone then explained that they were either trying not to contact the virus or get too close to people because of the COVID season. It was only then that I understood their actions.
Another thing that happened in my first week was falling sick –
Wow, how did this happen?
I didn’t like the vegan meal given on the plane, and even at the stop in Istanbul, I didn’t like much of the $15 pasta I bought because it was so bland. Coupled with the fact that it was a 14-hour flight, I got ill from the stress of travelling.
Some Nigerians had to take me to the hospital. I asked the nurse for water in the emergency room, and she didn’t understand. Only when I rolled the “t” in “water” did she finally understand what I requested and give me water. The doctor later discovered that I had malaria, but since it’s not a prevalent disease in the US, they didn’t have the test kits and equipment to treat me. They also had to take my blood sample from California to Atlanta before they could figure out if it was malaria.
I was also in the hospital for three days; it was the best time ever. I ate free food, received free Wi-Fi, paid my bills with insurance, and spent my days watching Bridgerton. It was an interesting time. The weather was cold but not too cold, which is one of the advantages of residing in California.
Nice! Could you please describe your experience as a master/teaching assistant?
Everything was virtual at first because of the pandemic. I did have to teach courses as a teaching assistant and then get paid a stipend. I remember the first class I taught on web application development.
There was an idea of the course but didn’t know what to expect because I had never taken the class before. I remember introducing myself and telling them to ask me questions, but after the class, I thought, “How can I tell them to ask me questions when I just started this?”
My teaching assistant experience started with me just “winging it,” more like a “fake it till you make it” sort of thing. I remember taking three artificial intelligence (AI) classes during my first office hours. After seeing these classes’ syllabi and weekly assignments and discussing them with a friend, he advised me to drop one class. As a graduate teaching assistant, you don’t just teach; you also have to attend the classes and do the assignment before handing it out to the students so that you can help them with whatever problems they encounter.
The magnitude of the content for my first class was enormous. I can remember us covering in two hours almost half of the entire semester syllabus of that same course in Nigeria.
Wow, how did you manage to juggle all those classes with your coursework?
At the end of the day, I dropped all those 3 big AI classes because I really couldn’t do them. I then stuck with the web application development class because I felt it would be a good refresher, and then I picked a lighter class regarding the coursework. This was so that I could cope with my coursework. Three of my new friends knew the courses, so I could rely on them for help and guidance. Not knowing these courses, I couldn’t afford to do office hours as a teaching assistant. It took more than 20 hours daily to focus and grade papers as a teaching assistant, talking less about being a master’s student.
Part of what helped me was belonging to a community of students to rely on if I needed any help with my own courses. My school also offers a quarterly or 10-week system to do assessments, teach, and wrap up with exams. This made the pace of work fast. You could always expect the course assignments to take 10-20 hours alone. Coupled with my workload as a teaching assistant, I was always stressed and tired, and I had nightmares in my first quarter.
I could wake up as early as 3 a.m. because I’d remember I had something to do that wasn’t even close to completion. I was sleeping for only 3-4 hours daily. My teaching was non-negotiable, and I couldn’t look like a fool. I was also to be reviewed at the end of the quarter, with students rating me, and I didn’t want a bad review because it could attract penalties.
Wow, THAT hard?
Yes. People say that if you survive in a Nigerian university, you will thrive in foreign universities. This is a lie because it is harder because of the weekly assignments; you’re either teaching or doing research, unlike in Nigeria, where you just need to show up.
I can remember a social computing assessment that I took for my coursework. I didn’t finish because I was a slow typist and wasn’t a fast thinker, and it was the same in many of my courses. Along the way, I asked for accommodation, which helped me gain three extra days for submitting assignments and 1.5x the time for assessments. If the standard time for an assessment was 3 hours, they could give 4 hours and 30 minutes due to the accommodation or special consideration I signed up for. I always felt below average regarding my set because this experience differed from the Nigerian educational experience.
I also learned to ask questions, but I noticed that they never gave straightforward answers. They gave hints and pointers, but never the answers. There was a lot of mental shift and tons of academic realisations in a year and a half. But I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.
What was your social life like at Stanford?
So I had my course for two years. The first part of the year was still about the COVID scare, and no one had much social interaction. The campus was quiet, and there wasn’t much activity. People still met in groups, but they wore face masks. Every Nigerian I met seemed willing to accommodate a new Nigerian, so that was chill.
It was a bit tricky mingling with other nationalities, but one way I did this was through assignments. I was the only African in my cohort, with the rest being African-American, Asian, or Indian. Only in September 2021 did things start to open up with physical classes. My attempts at socialisation came in the 2nd quarter because I knew the coursework now and how to go around things. I was also able to take harder courses.
We had departmental hangouts from time to time, and it was always just a bowl of food on a table (usually pizza), with people talking about research and no music. It was always boring, but at the same time, I could appreciate Americans and their zeal for research and hard work. They are so passionate about what they do and very cooperative.
There’s a memory that stands out for me. It was this Black, African-American event, and there was no music, which was very weird. Then, whenever I introduced myself, they’d almost always ask, “Where are you from?”
I wondered if my Nigerian accent was so obvious and if it was that easy to spot that I wasn’t part of them. Because of this, I felt more at ease being at a departmental event than one organised by black students. The cultural difference creates subtle tension, making you feel out of place.
What were the costs and quality of living like at Stanford?
Firstly, I’d say that healthcare is very expensive. Paying your bills would be extremely difficult if you didn’t have medical insurance.
I can remember a time when I attempted to do long-distance running and had tummy aches. My roommate felt I was in bad shape and called 911 (the emergency hotline). The roommate also confirmed that I wouldn’t pay out of pocket before I went to the hospital. The ambulance that the insurance company paid for amounted to $1,200 (N553,500), and the medical bill was $2,000 (N922,500), making a total of $3,200 (N1,476,000) for an ailment that I knew wasn’t serious and would have gone away in a couple of hours. If you don’t have medical insurance here, you can go bankrupt. Thankfully, I only fell ill once.
The cost of living in California is extremely expensive. Therefore, the average salary of a worker here is much higher than in the rest of the country. This also affected my stipend, and I receive $1800 as disposable income (after taxes and other charges have been deducted). This helps me pay rent on my housing, which costs $1,000 monthly, the cheapest I could find. What I have as a balance is usually enough for me. I can afford to send money home to my parents or upgrade my iPhone. You’re not rich, but you’re not broke, either.
What are the best parts and challenges of living at Stanford?
The best part was being part of an environment that motivates you to do great work. If you enter the campus, you’d feel like its heaven, with the infrastructure, alumni network, state-of-the-art equipment, etc. They’re also some of the world’s brightest people from all over the world, which makes learning so diverse. I also like that I can support my family without being affected negatively. $100 is like N73k here, and it won’t shake me here. However, it’s a significant amount to the average family or person in Nigeria. Every family should have one person abroad.
As to the challenges, adapting to a new environment with no family and friends can get lonely. There is also the pressure of moving to a new environment and being burdened with the expectation of succeeding immediately.
People here also tend not to be hospitable and mind their business too much, unlike in Nigeria. Unlike Nigeria, where I can randomly call a friend and visit that day, you always have to schedule visits here. You also have to be very intentional about cultivating friendships here, unlike in Nigeria, where you don’t have to stress how to make friends.
How are your grades now that you’re graduating?
Well, it’s not a 4.0, lol, but at least it’s definitely above the 3-point mark. I wasn’t crazy about getting the perfect grade, but I needed a good enough grade to maintain my teacher assistantship. Also, no one cares about CGPA here. Your skills and your GitHub account are what matter. And schooling at an Ivy League college already shows that you are smart, and that’s an endorsement of you.
What’s your next plan after graduation?
I plan to start working right away. I have a job waiting for me in a few months, but until then, I’d like to gain some extra cash with part-time tech gigs. I’m not looking forward to getting a PhD, though. This master’s degree is enough.
In your desire for transparency and accountability, do you know you are entitled to request specific information from public agencies and hold them accountable? There’s a tool at your disposal: the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
Governments and public agencies seeing you are about to utilise this information.
Knowing how to write an effective FOI request is essential to utilise this legislation and get all that the government considers a secret. This is where Civic Hive comes in with a guide, providing step-by-step instructions on how to craft the FOI request and ensure a timely response.
Steps
One. Identify the Information: Before writing your FOI request, clearly identify the exact information you wish to obtain. Being specific will help streamline the process and increase the chances of receiving the desired information.
Two. Determine the Relevant Authority: Identify the appropriate ministry, department, or agency responsible for the information you seek.
Three. Include the recipient’s address and reference number: Include the recipient’s address on the letter and assign a reference number. This will help track your request and establish a clear timeline for a response.
Four. Address the relevant officer: Direct your letter to the officer in charge or the designated FOI officer responsible for handling such requests. This ensures that your request reaches the appropriate person.
Five. Use a Distinct Subject Line: Begin your FOI request with the subject line “Freedom of Information Request for Details of —“. This distinct subject line distinguishes it from a regular letter and highlights the purpose of your request.
Six. Clearly State Your Request: Clearly and concisely state the information you are requesting, ensuring it aligns with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Also, provide any relevant context that may assist in locating the information.
Seven. Sign and Deliver the Letter: Sign and deliver your letter to the recipient’s address. It is advisable to keep a copy of the request for your records.
Eight. Attach a photocopy for acknowledgement: Ensure that your FOI request is accompanied by a photocopy for the recipient’s acknowledgement. This will serve as evidence of receipt and can be helpful in case of any future disputes or delays.
Nine. Response Time and Follow-up: According to the Freedom of Information Act, public agencies have a maximum of seven days to respond to FOI requests. If no response is received within the stipulated timeframe, you have the right to send a reminder letter referring to the initial request and its reference number. If the agency continues to ignore your request, you are empowered by the FOI Act to take legal action against the public agency.
You should inform the FOI Desk at the Ministry of Justice about your request. The Ministry coordinates, supervises, and enforces compliance by public agencies with the Freedom of Information Act, ensuring that your request is handled appropriately.
By following the steps outlined in this article, you can effectively exercise your right to access information and demand transparency. Together, as informed citizens, we can contribute to a more transparent and accountable Nigeria.
Are you ready to shake up the political scene and hold our new President, Tinubu, accountable? As active citizens, we must understand that information is power, and the government knows this. We get them rattled.
Our plug at Civic Hive knows how to get the information and proper tools to make a real impact by holding President Tinubu accountable and other elected officials through effective means. You can demand transparency and challenge the status quo by equipping yourself with the tools below.
Keep tabs on government projects in your community like a pro with Tracka. Tracka allows you to be a close spectator and become an active citizen by ensuring government promises turn into action. With Tracka, you can hold President Tinubu to his word and ensure your communities receive the services they deserve. You get to track, monitor, and make some noise until you can make real progress!
Budgets? Aha ahah not a problem! BudgIT makes navigating the complex world of government finances a breeze. You get to have a sneak peek into how our hard-earned tax money is allocated and spent. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be unstoppable in demanding fiscal responsibility and transparency from President Tinubu’s administration. It’s time to put those numbers to work and make them work for us!
No more being left in the dark when it comes to legislative matters! Shine Your Eye is a secret weapon stay informed about what our representatives are up to. Bills, motions, and decisions—we’ll be in the know. You get to hold President Tinubu and our elected officials accountable by engaging with them directly. It’s time to shine ya eye on our democracy!
Know Your Constituency Projects: BudgIT (me.budgit.org)
Say hello to me.budgit.org, and you get an all-access pass to the federal, state, and local governments’ allocations and spending. BudgIT dives into the nitty-gritty of those constituency projects to ensure they’re executed as promised. You can login to @me.yourbudgit.com to create your account. President Tinubu won’t know what hit him until we’re armed with facts and ready to demand accountability. It’s time to take charge and make everyone’s voices heard.
At Civic Hive, innovation is their middle name, and civic engagement is their playground. With their vibrant social incubation hub in Lagos, you get to meet young minds like yours who are in governance and create solutions to Nigeria’s social problems.
Wherever you find yourself, continue brainstorming, collaborating, and accelerating ideas for positive change in Nigeria.
And with the tools we’ve shared in this article, President Tinubu won’t know what hit him when our youthful energy meets civic innovation!
Don’t be shy if you loved this story or have any comments to help improve our reporting. Let us know through this form.
On June 1, 2023, Daily Trust newspaper exclusively reported with the headline “CBN Devalues Naira To 630/$1”. On its Twitter page, the news has received over 426k views at the time of writing. It has also been retweeted 493 times.
On Wait First, we divide claims into three categories. A valid claim is a fresh banana. A false claim is a burnt dodo. And a misleading claim is cold zobo.
So, how valid is this claim?
Background
According to the news report by Daily Trust, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) devalued the naira from ₦461.6 to ₦631 to the dollar. It then sold at the new rate in the “Importers and Exporters (I&E)” window on May 31.
Nigeria currently runs a multiple exchange rate system. The CBN provides its rates, and the parallel market, commonly known as the black market, provides another. The gulf between the two creates arbitrage. This is a situation where people trade in currencies by taking advantage of differing prices for the same currency.
As of May 31, the CBN’s rate was ₦461.26 to the dollar.
Not long after the news report was released, the CBN released a screenshot describing it as “fake news”.
The CBN then followed up with a statement signed by its acting director of corporate communications, Isa AbdulMumin. It read:
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a news report by Daily Trust Newspaper of June 1, 2023, titled ‘CBN Devalues Naira To 630/$1’.
We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilising innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at ₦465/$ and has been stable around this rate for a while.
The public is hereby advised to ignore this news report by Daily Trust in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market.
Media practitioners are advised to verify their facts from the Central Bank of Nigeria before publishing in order not to misinform the public.”
Verdict
The CBN has come out to state that the claim by Daily Trust is emphatically false. Therefore this news is nothing but burnt dodo.
Hi friend! For the past few months, we’ve helped you say on top of Nigerian politics, policies and governance or have we? In less than 2 mins, tell us what you think about Zikoko Citizen here, and we owe you an interesting story next week.
The 2021 murder of an Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) student in a hotel and the recent death sentence of a prince who is a hotelier sets the stage for today’s story.
This incident ignited a seething fury among Nigerians to talk about ritual murder, death sentences and the many grievances associated with Nigeria’s monarchy.
He owns a University He owns a palatial hotel.
He was a top contender for the Ooni of Ife kingship Yet he is deep into ritual killins.
It was a murder too many, as he snuff'd out lives of unsuspecting customers without being caught.
To understand this story better, let’s get to know exactly who the prince is.
Who is Abdulrahmon Adedoyin?
Rahmon Adedoyin [City Voice Newspaper]
Dr Rahmon Adegoke Adedoyin of the Agbedegbede/Oshinkola Akui Ruling House, was born into privilege as a prince from Ile-Ife, Osun State. His lineage carries historical significance and is part of the traditional monarchy of the region.
Adedoyin founded Oduduwa University in the same city and was a candidate for the Ooni of Ife throne after the late Oba Sijuade. He claimed the late king nominated him as his successor in August 2015. However, another prince, Adeyeye Ogunwunsi, became Ooni a few months later, in December 2015.
Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwunsi/[@oniadimulaife]
Adedoyin is prominent in the hospitality business in the state and owns Hilton Hotels and Resorts. This served as a lodging spot for residents of Ile-Ife and happened to be the last place where OAU Masters student, Timothy Adegoke, would ever be seen.
The disappearance and death of Timothy Adegoke
35-year-old Adegoke was set to undergo his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) examinations at OAU on November 6 and 7, 2021. He decided to use the hotel because it was close to the venue of his exam. He checked in at the Hilton Hotel the day before, November 5.
The first person to notice his disappearance was his wife. She called him the following day and noticed that his phone was consistently ringing without him picking up the call. She then contacted his parents. They sent delegates to OAU, only to discover that Adegoke was not present to write his exams.
Through the help of an abandoned receipt (which Adegoke’s wife discovered at home) and the Osun State police command, six people were arrested. This includes an Islamic Cleric (who had Adegoke’s phone), hotel staff, and Adedoyin himself.
Further police investigations helped find Adegoke’s remains in a shallow grave at Ede Road, Osun State. This helped Adegoke’s family kickstart legal action against the prince.
Hilton Hotel, the place where Timothy Adegoke was last seen [Orbitz]
The death sentence, other parts of the verdict
After a year of legal proceedings, the Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Adepele Ojo, dismissed Adedoyin’s case of “not being present at the hotel at the time of Adegoke’s murder”. The Chief Judge pronounced Adedoyin and two of his staff guilty of murder, with the trio facing death by hanging.
Part of the nails that eventually crucified Adedoyin was his refusal to enter the court’s witness box to prove himself innocent and Adedoyin’s Hilux van, which had murder weapons.
Asides from the death sentence, the judge added that the Hilux Van and hotel would become state property. Timothy’s children are to be educated to the university level at a cost to the three offenders.
But how does the death sentence work?
The death sentence penalty isn’t as straightforward as most people would think.
To provide nuance and better understand the case, Citizen spoke with a defence lawyer for two hotel staff. One was freed, and the other was convicted. Rowland Otaru first explained how the “death penalty” truly works.
According to Otaru, a senior advocate of Nigeria, death sentences take a while. “The convicted offender usually has up to one month to appeal his case before execution. This also gives enough time for the defence team to discover more evidence,” he said.
What’s next?
From all indications from the court’s verdict, Adedoyin’s story isn’t over yet.
We expect to see Adesola Adedeji, the hotel receptionist and hotel manager, and Roheem (who happens to be Adedoyin’s son) come into the mix. There are expectations that their suspected involvement in Adegoke’s murder will be tested.
Roheem Adedoyin [Akede Oyo]
We also look forward to round two of the case. Otaru enthusiastically told us that the defence team would not “be going down without a fight.” They’d head to the Court of Appeal to plead Adedoyin’s case.
Over a phone conversation, Otaru shared, “I personally feel that he judged too quickly. Also, the media hype and public outcry influenced the judge. His [Adegoke’s] organs were intact, and only circumstantial evidence was used for this judgement. We’ll make our way to the Court of Appeal next month. We will not go down without a fight.”
Don’t be shy if you loved this story or have any comments. Let us know through this form.
Forgive our catchy title. President Tinubu’s famous phrase inspired it as he declared his plans to “hit the ground running” during his first days in office. Today, we bank on it for Nigeria’s newly inaugurated governors.
In a way, Tinubu’s pronouncement on removing the fuel subsidy exemplifies the race we just got into as a nation. Nigerians are now hustling for fuel in a rat race to the filling station. It’s, however, not all doom and gloom. According to Bloomberg, the announcement has led the Nigerian stock market to rally to its highest value since November 2020. We can only hope that this surge sustains some financial analysts’ optimism.
Away from Tinubu, 28 governors—18 new ones and ten returning ones—took the Oath of Office on May 29. As is typical with Nigerian politicians, they all made promises during their campaigns, and the momentum was sustained in their inauguration speeches. We highlighted five we found worthy enough, and we bring to you, in no particular order, those who have hit the ground running.
Alex Otti, Abia State
[Alex Otti / Punch]
The leadup to the Abia State elections had surprising twists, which we covered in detail.
Ultimately, the Labour Party’s (LP) Alex Otti emerged winner in a hotly contested election. In his inaugural speech, Otti was jubilant but took shots at the previous PDP-led administration.
“We rejoice in the birth of a new and glorious era, yet we cannot easily forget the years of waste and missed opportunities arising from self-seeking, prebendal and profligate governance,” Otti said. He added that his administration inherited debt to the tune of ₦200 billion, ₦50 billion in salary arrears and colossal infrastructure decay. Otti said his administration would launch, within a month, a ₦10 billion Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (MSME) financing scheme in the state to address unemployment.
Abba Kabir Yusuf, Kano State
[Abba Kabir Yusuf / BBC]
The Kano Guber election, which we also covered, saw Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) coast to a commanding victory over the incumbent APC. In his inaugural speech, Yusuf promised to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the journalist Abubakar Dadiyata.
After his inauguration, Yusuf’s first port of call was the Kiru Reformatory School, which he said would be fully reopened to rehabilitate drug addicts. He also spoke on electoral violence:
“We shall investigate all cases of political violence that led to the loss of lives and properties across the State in the last eight years. The infamous case of AlHassan Ado Doguwa, who allegedly sponsored the maiming and murder of over 15 innocent souls in Tudun Wada Local Government, will be pursued to its logical conclusion.”
Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, Benue State
[Hyacinth Alia / The Cable]
The All Progressives Congress (APC) won Benue State in a tight contest. Benue is one state we can confidently say has no “First Lady” as it’s governed by a Reverend Father, Hyacinth Alia.
Alia’s first act in office mirrors a template already seen in Ebonyi, Enugu and several others upon assuming office—freezing the state’s bank accounts. In his inaugural speech, Alia made mention of the security, employment and infrastructural challenges plaguing the state. He outlined his seven pillars which he believes will transform the state. He asked for cooperation as he lacked a “magic wand” to actualise his plans for the state.
“I want to say to you, Benue, I am ready and willing to provide the requisite leadership to take that leap of faith into a future of shared prosperity for Benue. And I will not fail you,” he said.
Umo Eno, Akwa Ibom State
[Umo Eno, Premium Times]
With his swearing-in on May 29, Akwa Ibom’s Umo Eno made history by becoming the first albino governor in Nigeria. In his inaugural speech, the PDP governor of the oil-rich state donned his religious toga by saying he’d lead his state “in the way of the Lord.”
“I stand here as one of you and promise to make you proud. We will lead this state in the way of the Lord. And we will continue to keep the standard and even seek to improve the Christ-centric government that His Excellency Deacon Udom Emmanuel has established,” he said.
His first act in office was to make appointments, including a secretary to the state government and an economic adviser. We hope he can go beyond sermons and deliver on good governance, which his people elected him for.
Seyi Makinde, Oyo State
[Seyi Makinde / Punch]
Seyi Makinde was part of the G5, a group of PDP governors opposed to the presidential aspiration of Atiku Abubakar. While Atiku didn’t win the presidency, measuring how the G5 contributed to his loss is tough. Four of the five governors, including Makinde, ran for office in various capacities, including governor and senator. Only Makinde won re-election.
In his speech, Makinde listed his achievements in his first term. He promised to clear backlogs in gratuities for state workers while building on economic and infrastructural gains. “It’s time to upgrade to the Omituntun 2.0 lifestyle,” he said.
“Let me reassure the good people of Oyo state that Omituntun 2.0 will be better than 1.0. We will work even harder to ensure that the prosperity our people have started enjoying under Omituntun 1.0 will continue for four more years,” he added.
Makinde’s first act was to dissolve the Disciplinary Committee in charge of the state’s Park Management System (PMS) immediately. The committee was headed by one Mukaila Lamidi, popularly known as Auxillary. The Oyo State Police Command, on May 30, arrested 78 suspects. They were linked to an attempt to cause trouble in the state following the dissolution of the PMS.
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Last week, we discussed how one spark of defiance from a Northern Sarkin (or king) ignited a full-blown war between Northern Nigeria and the British Empire in 1900.
The Battle of Kano [Wikiwand]
If you didn’t read this piece, let’s break it down with a quick refresher:
The Recap
The British Empire declared Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900 but had no territorial control. They needed to gain power over the region due to the fear of European rivals outsmarting them and to gain the local leaders’ fear respect.
To do this, they called upon Frederick Dealtry Lugard, who grew from a British soldier to High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria in 1900.
After the official proclamation, he sent a memo to the Sarkin Muslmi, or King of the Sokoto Caliphate, to which there was no reply. This led to a rampage from Lugard to depose various emirates in the Caliphate.
But today, we look at two kingdoms — Bida and Yola emirates.
The 1897 Fall of Bida Empire
Pre-colonial Bida: A Greedy and Bloodthirsty Government
Before the end of Bida in 1901, the emirate was the most populous out of five emirates (Agaie, Lapai, Lafiagi and Shonga) under the supervision of a Gwandu. Its regions stretched from present-day Niger State in Nupeland to Akoko in Ondo State.
Procession of Etsu chiefs with bodyguards [Nupe Base]
They had the best tax and tributes collection record and traded–mostly slaves, firearms and ammunition–heavily with British and other European merchants in the early 19th century, which helped them raid villages and take other territories. This made them highly unpopular in the region, with many rebellions. Most notable is the Kyadya Rebellion of 1881-82.
Kyadya rebellion of 1881 [Don Steve Blog]
The Emir of Bida also replaced mini-state systems with a centralised system of government (much like Nigeria’s democracy today), which helped them to stay in control of all taxes and tributes.
The Obaro Chieftaincy of Owe was upgraded to the paramount chief of all communities in North-East Yorubaland, which allowed him to implement Bida policies and collect tributes for delivery to Bida, which non-Owe and even Owe clans disliked.
In 1895, the Bida terror reached an all-time high when the Emir decided not only to request money but now tributes in the form of young girls and boys to the Bida Empire. The Bida regions protested but to no avail.
With dissatisfaction amongst the tribes, Lugard’s advent in 1900 allowed them to express their concerns.
How an unexpected alliance led to the fall of Bida
Remember Bida’s trade with British merchants? This partnership is what eventually led to its downfall.
By 1897, Bida traded with the French and Germans. But by 1897, the British (through the Royal Niger Company (RNC) decided they wanted a monopoly, which the leaders at Bida found as over-ambitious. This led to the first war between Bida and the RNC in 1897, which the RNC didn’t win.
However, they helped one of Bida’s most resourceful regions gain independence – Kabba. Mutiny grew around the region, with subjects rallying behind a self-exiled Kyadya prince, Yahaya Marike, towards allying with the RNC to end Bida’s reign.
‘The Battle of Bida’ [Ndagi Abdullahi/RuokoTv/Facebook]
Under the Prince’s instructions, Kyadya inhabitants refused to ferry the Bida army across their territory in the River Niger area, forcing them to take a more difficult route which demoralised soldiers, leading to deaths and desertion. This weakened the Bida.
When this happened, Bida called out to the nearby Lapai and Agaie for aid, to no avail. Even the Yissahzi tribe that lived in the Bida township refused to give them additional troops.
With this cooperation, the Marike-led government, alongside the RNC, attacked Bida. By the time the RNC and Marike’s army had reached the walls, Bida didn’t even know that Yissahzi and Kyadya were not on their side.
The Red Walls of Bida [Nomad4Now]
Bida’s downfall pushed regional power to the Patigi tribe, which revived all traditional Nupe offices. Lugard would later take Bida from the RNC, but the empire was already buried..
The 1902 Fall of Yola Empire
“I’ll not be two-faced”
By the latter part of 1901, the British Army had deposed emirates: Bida, Ilorin, Kontagora, Lapai — and Yola was next on the hit list.
“A Hausa from Yola” c. 1902 [Wikipedia]
Adamawa aristocracy, debated their options: fall under British rule or resist them. This aristocracy comprised Lamido (King), Zubairu bin Adama on one side, Hamman Joda (the Qadi), Bobbo Ahmadu (the Lamido’s younger brother) and Yerima Iyabeno (the Lamido’s nephew) on the other.
In the end, Lamido-Zubairu’s team—arguing for resistance—won.
Their arguments had two principles:
They did not want Europeans for dividing their empire (the Germans had taken over sub-emirate Tibati and were moving towards Ngoundere and Bamnyo);
and strong respect for the Sokoto Caliphate and its vision.
Hans Dominik, Oscar Zimmerman, Curt von Pavel and other German officers rest for a photo after reaching Lake Chad. (May 2, 1902) [Wikipedia]
This is why, in his letter to Sultan Abdurrahman of Sokoto announcing the fall of Yola to the British months later, Lamido Zubairu pledged:
“I will not be two-faced, on your side and on the side of the Christians too. My allegiance is to you, to God and the Prophet, and after you to the Imam Mahdi. There is no surrender to the unbeliever even after the fall of the strongholds.”
The British troops arrive
The British deployed 22 European officers and NCOs and 365 mercenaries, 275-mm guns and 4 Maxim guns, led by Colonel T.N.L. Morland, for the occupation of Yola on September 2, 1901.
They travelled using steamboats on Lake Njuwa and were anchored near a baobab tree locally called Bokki Hampeto. Colonel Morland sent a Shuwa Arab resident of Yola to send a letter to the Lamido containing their terms. The messenger returned three minutes later with the message that Lamido Zubayru refused to receive the letter.
Upon receiving this message, Morland moved his troops closer to the town and then sent his messenger once again to the Lamido with the threat that if his letter were refused again, he would take steps to compel him to open it. Before the return of his message, people riding on horses came out of the town to block the British.
Zubaryu retaliates
The messenger emerges, yet again, failing to deliver the letter to Lamido Zubairu as he was sent back and told by Lamido to warn Morland to retreat. More horsemen streamed out of the town to confront Morland and his forces. Morland calculated that it would be to their advantage to allow the people of Yola to attack first in the open. He felt it was much better than fighting in the narrow streets of Yola. He waited for the first attack from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. “after much shouting and exhorting from their mallams”.
The First Attack
Despite the starting battle, Morland ordered his men to “reserve our fire till the leaders were within 200 yards” before he ordered the maxim guns to be fired. After this attack, Morland’s forces went on the offensive. They advanced through the town till they reached the Lamido’s palace and Friday mosque, which were heavily defended. An arrow wounded Morland himself, but they persevered and defeated their adversaries.
Morland lost two men with 37 wounded, while the Yola forces lost 50 with 150 wounded.
The Second Attack
The morning after, the British forces blew up the palace’s visitors’ chambers and other “important-looking buildings” in Yola. Morland also heard rumours that Lamido Zubayru fled to Gurin, forty miles east of Yola.
The Capture of Yola, Benue, Northern Nigeria on September 2 by the Western African Frontier Force [Caton Woodville]
The Pursuit of Zubaryu
Acting Commissioner Wallace, with Colonel Morland, pursued Lamido to Gurin by steamboat. Eight European officers, NCOs, 150 mercenaries, and 2 Maxim guns accompanied them.
After travelling on the river Benue, Faro and Heso for 26 hours, they arrived in Gurin only to be told that Emir was not there. They turned back towards Yola without any encounter.
However, they learned that Zubaryu was in Ribadu, fourteen miles behind them. Wallace turned back to Yola to appoint a new “Lamido” while Morland and his forces marched towards Ribadu only to find out Lamido Zubayru had also not been there. Morland spent the night in Ribadu.
On the morning of September 7, Colonel Morland shelled the town of Ribadu before returning to Yola.
What happened to Zubaryu?
The Lamido managed to escape capture for months. First of all, he hid in the “German parts” of Adamawa, including Adumri, Manoa and Madagali. He then revisited “British Adamawa” in October 1902 after taking refuge at Gudu for three months. The British caught him, but he escaped.
The Lala (a tribe from Bornu State) later killed him in 1902, before knowing his identity.
Check out this weekly time machine same time next week to read the final edition of this series, “The Fall of Kano.”
On May 24, we reflected on Buhari’s time in office, which we perceived as a period marked by missed opportunities. Here’s an excerpt:
“On May 29, 2023, the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will give his inaugural speech. Despite misgivings about the elections, Tinubu’s speech might give insights into what to expect from his administration. Ultimately, if Buhari’s time in office has taught us anything, we should set our expectations lower.”
Background
In case you missed it, here’s President Tinubu’s inaugural speech summary. Out of his promises to Nigerians, the “fuel subsidy is gone” announcement quickly became a standout topic for Nigerians, and the media contributed to amplifying its implications.
While there was applause from the inaugural attendees and many Nigerians across the country, you only need to go back to eleven years ago, on January 1, 2012, when former President Goodluck Jonathan announced the removal of the fuel subsidy. The nationwide Occupy Nigeria protests followed, leading to Jonathan’s ouster from office.
Tinubu was the same guy who lambasted Jonathan for taking the same decision. At the time, he said, “The government has tossed the people into the depths of the midnight sea” by removing subsidies on fuel.
To be fair to Tinubu, all the leading presidential candidates suggested during their campaigns that the subsidy had to go. Some Nigerians also agree with them. There are at least 7.3 trillion reasons we can think of. Still, we need to understand the shift in stance.
For one, Tinubu went off script. Here’s a part of the written version of the speech shared by his media executives with the press:
“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime, which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. The subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
Now compare it with what he said by firmly saying that “fuel subsidy is gone.”
We’re not the only ones who noticed this difference:
Citizen spoke to a few Nigerians living in Lagos who shared their thoughts on Tinubu’s impromptu announcement on the subsidy removal. Here’s what they had to say:
Toluwani
“I knew it was going to happen. I don’t feel anything about it. I’m only annoyed and irritated that Nigerians are again trying to exploit the situation because why are filling stations selling at 500-700 already? The subsidy hasn’t been effected yet, so why make life more difficult than it has to be? I’ve said this before, Nigerians are bad people, and if given the opportunity, we’ll do much worse than the leaders we criticise daily. Nonsense.”
Tolulope
“All the three top candidates were clear on this subsidy. Their stand was that it wouldn’t stay. What the president said yesterday in his first speech is a mere formality.
Provisions made down already state subsidy payments will continue until the end of June 2023. So why are filling stations hoarding it? The loudest opposers are those who hoped he wouldn’t be inaugurated, so they need to wake up please and ask the right questions to the right quarters.”
Daniel
“It’s just greed. Yesterday morning, everything was fine. You could walk into a petrol station two days ago, and in three minutes, you’re out. Today, you’ll spend a whole day. These people will not open the filling station till they change the pump price. Fuel price from ₦185 two days ago they’re selling at approximately ₦600 now. With subsidy removal, fuel is supposed to be around ₦380/litre. It’s daylight theft.”
Emmanuel
“I bought fuel yesterday at ₦585 at a filling station in Fola-Agoro, Abule-Ijesha, Lagos. They were the only ones selling at that time, around 8 p.m. They weren’t selling to car owners, only those with kegs. If you came in your car, you’d still have to buy in a keg. And buying with a keg comes with extra charges.
The one that hurt me the most was my way to work this morning. I left home a bit late.
Normally on days like this, I’d ride from my house at Yaba to the office at Ikeja. The price on the ride-hailing app Bolt is usually between ₦1800 and ₦3000. This morning, it was hovering between ₦4200 and ₦5100. On Uber, it was between ₦4500 and ₦4900. Only Lagride had a lower price of between ₦2800 and ₦3000 because I have a discount. On a normal day, it would cost between ₦1500 and ₦1900.
So I think the announcement has caused a lot of panic leading to a price hike.”
It’s only day one, but going by reactions to the announcement both online and offline, Tinubu is up to a rough start in office. Nigerians would be eagerly looking forward to how he responds.
On May 29, 2023, one of Nigeria’s political godfathers, who has spent a significant amount of time leading the political affairs of Lagos State as senator and governor, took the oath of office as Nigeria’s 16th president.
His name is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his campaign name is BAT.
The “Jagaban” right here
Many young Nigerians do not particularly like Tinubu, and many of them find his highly contested victory hard to swallow.
Citizens in our WhatsApp community share the same sentiments. Based on their suggestions, Citizen have identified key promises made by Tinubu and pressing issues they need the new president to address within his first 100 days in office as president.
In 2010, Yar’Adua inherited $2.11 billion in debt after Obasanjo secured a write-off of the London and Paris Club debts, with Jonathan inheriting $3.5 billion shortly after.
In 2015, Buhari inherited $10.32 billion in debt and is now leaving Tinubu with a debt of ₦77 trillion.
How we imagine Tinubu when he sees Nigeria’s account balance
Even though settling debt as high as ₦77 trillion seems like a daunting task, we advise that he take action towards minimising the country’s debt profile.
May God ‘epp’ us
Revisit Tinubu’s drug trafficking allegations
As Tinubu’s administration begins to make efforts to build trust with its leadership, the first place to start is by having the new president address his drug trafficking allegations. Not many will forget this; the bombastic side eye will still roll.
Despite APC lawyers insisting that the new president was never indicted for drug-related offences, there is still the case of the Illinois government forfeiting $460,000 in two of his bank accounts, as well as $2 million in several of Tinubu’s accounts linked to heroin trafficking.
Nigerians want Tinubu to come out and plainly confess or vindicate himself on the issue.
Eliminate multiple FX regime
In October 2022, Tinubu promised Nigerians to eliminate multiple foreign exchange rates in the country, as it affects the costs of imports, the competitiveness of exports etc. He also mentioned in his inaugural speech that solving Nigeria’s forex issue would be a priority.
Hopes are high with his promise in this regard. This is given that the nation’s currency currently stands at N460 to a dollar at the CBN rate for Nigeria’s dollar-to-naira exchange. Black market prices currently revolve around N770 or higher.
Establish budgetary reform
In his inaugural speech, Tinubu announced he would establish budgetary reform to stimulate the economy without causing inflation.
If you don’t know why, let’s bring back the N21.83 trillion budget signed at the beginning of the year as a refresher. This consists of a debt service cost taking over nearly 31% of the budget at N6 trillion, which many financial analysts see as a poor decision.
Answer the question, “Who gave the order?”
It’s been three years since the Lekki Toll Gate massacre, and one question that the Buhari administration never answered to was “Who gave the order?”
This is a question that is highly important to Nigerians for the newly established Tinubu administration to pay attention to and give an answer to especially since he has an interesting relationship with the governor of Lagos State.
Phase out fuel subsidy
Our new president vowed to remove a big and important chunk of expenditure on Nigeria’s budget: the fuel subsidy.
In March 2023, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) revealed that the nation spends over N400 billion every month on fuel subsidies.
Tinubu promised to “re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care, and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.” Citizens are saying, “Shall he remove it?”
Improve on power generation
If you live in Nigeria, you know that having a constant power supply is almost a distant dream. But with Tinubu, not anymore.
The president has assured Nigerians that they can expect electricity to become more accessible and affordable for businesses and homes. There will be double of Nigeria’s power generation, and transmission and distribution networks will get improved. He also promised to encourage states to develop local power generation sources. Who won’t be happy with stable electricity?
Nigerians experienced cases of terrorism, banditry, and pastoralist vs. farmer clashes. We also recorded several communal crises, cult clashes, and extrajudicial killings.
In his inaugural speech, Tinubu promised to answer this “debacle” by improving the security personnel with better training, equipment, pay, and firepower.
Even though this helps, we also need the president to take stringent legal action against the 96 financiers of this terrorism. This was compiled by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit for the Buhari government and never addressed.
A year-long supply of cassava, garri and Ewa
While we’re still significantly interested in agriculture and looking for ways for framers to make more money, let’s not forget our new president’s love for root crops like cassava, garri, ewa, and corn. We can expect to see more of this become part of our diet.
In these next 100 days, we need Tinubu to hold the CBN governor by the neck. We also need to make him accountable for his actions in playing with Nigeria’s economic and financial situation.
Expect a “money rain”
There’s hope that Tinubu will run a more liberal economy than Buhari.
We want Nigerians to begin testifying to this within his 100 days in office. We should be seeing the “Tinubunomics” equation and theories make sense.
Don’t dare censor social media
Due to the June 2021 events that followed former President Buhari’s ban on Twitter in Nigeria, a community member raised this particular challenge.
In light of the recent crisis in Sudan and Nigerians stuck in the crosshairs, the BAT has assured Nigerians that peace and stability in West Africa and the continent at large will be his watchword.
To achieve this, he promises to work with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU). This is in order to end and resolve new conflicts.
With all this, can we trust our new president to keep his promises? And would we see significant progress within his first 100 days in office?
On May 29, 2023, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, becomes President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also assumes the title of Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s Armed Forces.
At 10:28 a.m. and 10:38 a.m., Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima, took the oath of office to serve Nigeria. Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Olukayode Ariwoola, administered the oath of office.
In his inaugural speech, Tinubu expressed his love for the nation and his faith in its people. He emphasises the need to march beyond the challenges and work towards a better society. Tinubu acknowledges the peaceful transition of power and praises his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari. He asserts Nigeria’s strength and resilience, declaring Nigeria the “champion of the Black race.”
Citizen watched closely as the 16th President of Nigeria gave his speech. The swearing-in ceremony took place in Eagle Square, Abuja. The new administration spoke about hitting the ground running and improving the country’s state of affairs and economy. Here are ten quotes to highlight for you to pay attention to.
Highlights
“Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence.”
“We shall remodel our economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security, and an end to extreme poverty.”
“Our government shall review all their complaints about multiple taxations and various anti-investment inhibitions. We shall ensure that investors and foreign businesses repatriate their hard-earned dividends and profits.”
“My administration must create meaningful opportunities for our youth. We shall honour our campaign commitment of one million new jobs in the digital economy.”
“Our government also shall work with the National Assembly to fashion an omnibus Jobs and Prosperity bill. This bill will give our administration the policy space to embark on labour-intensive infrastructural improvements, encourage light industry, and improve social services for the poor, elderly, and vulnerable.”
“Rural incomes shall be secured by commodity exchange boards guaranteeing minimal prices for certain crops and animal products. A nationwide programme for storage and other facilities to reduce spoilage and waste will be undertaken.”
“We shall continue the efforts of the Buhari administration on infrastructure. Progress toward national networks of roads, rail, and ports shall get priority attention.”
“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime, which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, healthcare, and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
“The Central Bank must work towards a unified exchange rate. This will direct funds away from arbitrage into meaningful investment in the plant, equipment, and jobs that power the real economy.”
“We shall work with ECOWAS, the AU, and willing partners in the international community to end extant conflicts and to resolve new ones.”
Tinubu tasked citizens of Nigeria to join him in making the country a perfect nation and democracy, where “the Nigerian ideal becomes and forever remains the Nigerian reality.”
To wrap up his speech, Tinubu declared, “My name is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and I am the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
There’s no need for caution, but you must know: This satire tale is a work of fabu, yet it encapsulates the essence of Baba Tinubu’s momentous day as Bubu relinquishes power. Only a select few are privy to the inner workings of Tinubu’s morning on such an occasion. Consider me fortunate, for I am a chosen to witness this morning when this septuagenarian ascends to the presidency.
For Tinubu, the kingmaker, this marks the fulfilment of a long-cherished aspiration, born from his years as a senator, a governor, and the revered Godfather of Lagos, bestowing his blessings upon the selected but, in a way, elected governors since his tenure as governor ended in 2007.
Today is May 29, and at long last, his moment arrives. He will assume the title of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The meticulously planned schedule unveiled to the press reveals that the oath-taking ceremony to serve Nigeria commences at 10 a.m. in Abuja.
5:30 a.m.
Earlier this morning, the air was different within the State House (presidential villa) confines, where Tinubu slept over after the inauguration dinner. This is the day Baba has been waiting for. Tinubu, from his bed, rises from another world, calling his wife to support him as he tries to sit down. It has been a while since their lips met, so Madam Tinubu playfully plants a kiss on Baba’s cheek. A smile graces his face; his eyes shimmer, and he moistens his lips while Madam Tinubu showers him with adoration, saying, “Ọkọ mi, à kú orire o” (My husband, victory is finally ours).
6:30 a.m.
Tinubu stood up, clasped her hands, and they gazed into the nearby mirror. Baba expresses his gratitude to Madam, “Ọse gàn,” implying her unwavering support throughout their arduous journey. On the cusp of assuming the role of First Lady, Madam realises she will never return to the room where senators sparred and the office that invited mockery from the media. As a senator for over 10 years, they often labelled her a bully, a dramatic queen—you name it.
Moments as extraordinary as this are scarce, and nobody wants to jeopardise the arduous journey that led them here. Those close to Baba Tinubu have chosen to remain discreet, mindful of the media’s hunt for sensational stories while avoiding any association with negativity. Being on good terms is paramount, above all else. Loyalty must be proven.
7:20 a.m.
Phone calls start pouring in as Baba and Madam continue to revel in anticipation of the events unfolding this morning.
The first call was from the state governor, who delivered significant numbers for Tinubu during the election. Then, the calls come one after another, with politicians at different levels of governance, even those considered adversaries by the public, showering him with praise and hailing him as Jagaban, Asiwaju, their revered leader. Who would have imagined the inauguration would unite them in a chorus of admiration?
8:07 a.m.
Meanwhile, Madam Tinubu, seated on the room’s sofa, swipes through congratulatory messages on WhatsApp, beaming with joy as she responds to each one. She adjusts her underdress, which she had repurposed as a nightgown, still smiling when Aisha Buhari’s call comes in.
Aisha has been playing nice fr. She had taken Madam Tinubu on a tour of the presidential villa before this day, displaying excitement about assisting her with the transition and ensuring her settling in went smoothly. With the phone on speaker, Tinubu, just finishing up one of his calls, overhears their conversation.
When Aisha asks, “How are you feeling?” Madam Tinubu responds candidly, “I’m a bit nervous, but we will handle it. We’ll have breakfast quickly and be on our way to Eagle Square.”
Recognising the feeling, Aisha advises her not to let nervousness consume her and encourages her to draw strength and courage from her husband. Tinubu smiles and expresses gratitude, saying, “Aisha, thank you o. I appreciate this your support. I’m really happy that you two are jelling.” He also mentions their plans to meet later at the party to celebrate this new transition with other members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
8:33 a.m.
After Aisha’s call, the incoming president and the nation’s first lady-to-be both had a brief moment of solitude when they heard a knock on the door. It’s Madam’s assistant. She has been charged with coordinating their clothes for the inauguration. Madam Tinubu collected them from her assistant and placed them carefully in the wardrobe area. As she was about to nag about hunger, another knock interrupted her, hailing to be a waiter with their breakfast. They both shared a chuckle, realising the fast-paced nature of the morning. And it’s early morning; who knows what might happen to Tinubu if he doesn’t eat breakfast?
8:45 a.m.
Breakfast was a simple affair but filled with warmth and anticipation. Baba Tinubu savoured each bite, relishing the flavours of the dishes; who cared anyway whether the food was made with love? Madam Tinubu, with her nerves subsiding, engaged in light-hearted banter, adding a touch of levity to the room. They reminisced about their journey, the challenges they faced, and the triumphs they achieved.
9:12 a.m.
As they finished their meal, the room buzzed with the final preparations. The assistant reappeared, carefully arranging their outfits and ensuring every detail was perfect. Baba Tinubu’s attire exuded regality, symbolising the weight of the responsibility he was about to shoulder. Madam Tinubu’s ensemble radiated grace and elegance, befitting her role as the nation’s soon-to-be First Lady. The gele (head attire) is one to admire. The assistant tied it beautifully and added a graceful makeover to her face.
10:02 a.m.
With their attire donned and maybe a sense of purpose in their hearts, Baba and Madam Tinubu made their way towards Eagle Square. The energy outside was palpable; the air was excited and hopeful. Their spirits soared as they stepped out, greeted by enthusiastic supporters and well-wishers. The streets were adorned with banners of Tinubu’s face and APC flags, a vibrant tapestry celebrating the dawning of a new era.
10:20 a.m.
Amidst the cheers and chants, Baba Tinubu’s gaze met Madam Tinubu’s, a silent exchange of love, gratitude, and determination. They clasped hands in the car, drawing strength from one another, ready to embark on this historic journey together.
The inauguration ceremony will happen. Baba Tinubu will take the oath; his voice might not be steady, but we hope it’s resolute as he pledges his commitment to serve the people of Nigeria. The crowd will likely erupt in applause, and even if they are not impressed, voices will echo across the square. If Tinubu follows the script, he will spill words and fill hearts with renewed hope and belief in a brighter future.
10:42 a.m.
However, in Tinubu’s mind, grudges are not easily forgotten; those who have crossed him should prepare for the weight of his retribution. The kids on social media, taunting him with jibes about his age, academic history, background, and physical fitness, will soon feel the sting of his response. Controversy may surround his win, but he doesn’t care. While the Supreme Court is still occupied with those challenging his presidential victory, the reins of justice in Nigeria are not far from his grasp—what is beyond his reach? What can he not do? He is the Jagaban, and even the spectre of terror trembles in Baba’s presence.
Sometimes in life, you don’t get a warning about what’s ahead of you. Some things show up, and you are expected to make tough decisions that have to weigh many factors, such as love, the law, societal norms, and moral values. Suppose you find yourself in an online dating scenario where you only want a good time, and a drug trafficker shows up and asks for your help. Will you stake it all out for love? For Navigating Nigeria this week, Citizen spoke to Angela*, who narrated how she almost unknowingly became a drug courier.
*Name redacted to protect their identity
Editorial Note: Navigating Nigeria is a platform for Nigerians to passionately discuss the Nigerian experience with little interference from individual opinions. While our editorial standards emphasise the truth and endeavour to fact-check claims and allegations, we are not responsible for allegations made about other people based on half-truths.
Walk us through your experience
This was in April 2021. It had been years since I had a boyfriend or someone to call a lover. It also didn’t help that I’m an introverted person. Parties and nightclubs weren’t scenes I was accustomed to.
Because of this, I used Tinder, the dating app, to connect with people within my neighbourhood. Call it naïveté, but I wasn’t particular about the age of the guys. I was looking for anyone with a fine face and a sexy body.
Lol. Any luck?
I found the profile of this fair-complexioned and handsome man named David, who happened to be in his 30s. I swiped right to accept, and after a few minutes, I got a notification that he swiped right on my profile too. Boom, a match!
We then got talking, and he mentioned that he worked as a project manager in London and was coming to Nigeria for his sister’s wedding the following weekend.
He then asked me if I was single or in a relationship, as he was looking for a cool lady to “settle down with” and that he “admired me.” I began to suspect that things were fishy because how could he admire me after only two days of knowing each other? But I went along with it.
A few days later, he came to my DMs to ask if he could buy anything for me since he was coming to Nigeria. I told him it wasn’t necessary, and he sounded cool about it.
The following week, I woke up early in the morning to receive a call from a freight agency saying that I had a package from David. That morning, David had also sent a message that he had sent me gifts despite my earlier insistence that it wasn’t necessary.
The gift items included an iPhone 11, wigs, shoes, and a sealed box. I won’t lie, I was so excited and started planning how to receive the package from Customs.
Three hours later, I got a call from Customs asking me what was in the box. I told him it was £300 as David told me, and they didn’t believe me. They had dogs sniff the package, and they had every reason to suspect that there were drugs in it.
I confronted David about it, and he told me that he had kept both £300 in the box for me and also five grammes of methamphetamine, aka meth, which is a banned substance.
Ahhh
He wanted to sell it to a firm in Nigeria to produce certain pills. David also told me things had been difficult for him in London, and he was planning to relocate to Nigeria. He had to use the drug to get money for relocation. It was then that I knew that I had been interacting with a drug trafficker all along and that I was in serious trouble if this matter proceeded any further.
He begged me to tell them it was just money, but I refused and left Customs to confiscate the package. We never spoke again after that day.
What was your takeaway from the whole experience?
The primary emotion I felt was anger, not even fear. Because if I had known that the guy was a drug pusher, I wouldn’t have gone through this wahala. Thankfully, I wasn’t there when the dogs were sniffing the package. It was the Customs guy who informed me of the arrival of the goods and told me everything via phone.
I only got away without much trouble because I was crying hot tears on the phone. And this was after I paid #10k or so. Even then, I had to plead my innocence with them, using my age as a young girl who’d never met the man in my life. Since then, I’ve not used Tinder again. I prefer making real-life connections.
***In April, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released its Global Cocaine Report for 2023. The report revealed that Nigeria played a significant role in the smuggling of drugs—particularly at mid-level and dealer levels—in Africa and beyond.
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.
She speaks of her motivations for relocating, getting her student visa, registering her husband as her accompanying person, and navigating life with their current visa status.
What was your motivation for moving to Scotland?
I’d say that the act of “Japa,” or relocating to another country, has been my dream for as long as I can remember.
I’ve always loved the atmosphere and culture of Caucasians. Also, getting a postgraduate degree has always been on my bucket list, and that was a key priority in my mind.
The UK had the best offers for me regarding tuition fees, and my school (the University of Aberdeen) is currently ranked as one of the best schools in the UK.
Nigeria was also getting very difficult with issues of fuel scarcity, frequently interrupted power supply, etc., which spurred me to take action on my Japa plans.
When did you start the process?
I applied for admission in October 2022, shortly after my wedding in June 2022. Towards the beginning of November, I had gotten my entry, and by 2nd week of December, we had our visa.
By December 31, we had left the country for Scotland.
Wow, that was fast! Was anything done to hasten the process?
No, not really. The significant steps are to get admission from your institution and stack your proof of funds for 28 days.
Then they gave us our university’s CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies). However, every school has its own admissions process. Some schools may need you to send a deposit (maybe £2k – £4k) before they give the CAS. And it’s not something you can do without, as you’d need it for your student visa application.
However, my school didn’t request the deposit, so I didn’t pay. I did get a priority visa, though.
What’s the difference between a priority visa and a regular one?
Usually, there are peak visa periods, e.g., December, because of students going in January.
September and October are usually very busy and take longer processing times. However, if it’s not a peak season like April/May, no one would advise you to get a priority visa because it will likely take less than five working days.
Nice! How did your husband apply for his visa?
He applied as an [accompagnating person] under me.
How does that work?
When I applied for admission, I informed the school that I’d be bringing my husband in as a matter of courtesy.
However, the family issue applies when you’re applying for a visa. When filling out the form online, one of the first questions asked is if you have a spouse or children legally recognised under the law.
You fill out the form separately for each person, and since it was just my husband, I filled out only one. You must also ensure that your Proof of Funds covers living expenses for yourself and your family members and your school fees.
For a student, there are two types of proof of funds. If you go to school in London, you’d need to show up to £1,334 (or N758,777) and £1,023 (N104,419) if you go outside London. And both are for if you’re coming alone.
If you’re coming with a family member, you must show £680 (or N386,706) each. Proof of funds is also needed for the duration of your course and your family member’s monthly living expenses.
It will be higher or lower depending on where you live in the UK. For instance, if you live outside London, your proof of funds would be much cheaper than for someone living in London.
It’s not complicated at all.
Great. How has Scotland been for you in terms of advantages and challenges?
There are a lot of advantages here, especially in terms of schooling. When you go to a well-known university with the best learning environment, you tend to want to excel at your studies so that it won’t be in vain.
It has been fantastic for my husband and me in terms of everyday life. People just smile at you and greet you when you pass by. Things are not overly expensive at grocery stores. You’re just getting what you paid for. One is not worried about unstable power or fuel scarcity. It’s been great for us so far.
For challenges, what I can think of so far is the fact that we’ve not had a lot of time to save pounds as new immigrants. It’s easy for us to believe we’ve spent much money on certain things. But we’ve realised that older families, even Nigerians, have lots of money saved up in pounds. We are getting there anyway.
Is there anything else you’re yet to figure out as a new immigrant?
Well, maybe just driving. I have to learn to drive on the other side of the road. Plus, unlike Nigeria, they’re very law-abiding regarding road safety. There are also cameras at every stop, so whatever you do, they’re watching you.
Are there any rules and regulations that restrict your spouse?
There are just 3: no access to public funds, one can’t be a sportsman (I have any clue why), and you can’t practise medicine if you’re still in training except if you have a degree from a UK institution.
So in terms of public funds, they can’t access welfare or unemployment funds.
In cases of an accident or injury, there is a hospital bill called the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). This is a UK health charge that non–Europe Economic Area (or EEA) immigrants must pay as part of the immigrant application process. It was paid for while you paid for your visa fee.
The IHS fee fully covers hospital bills.
Based on your understanding, are there any downsides to being an accompanying person in the UK?
Honestly, my husband hasn’t had any so far. Once you’re here, you’re here. People even respect that you had to spend a lot of money to leave your country.
We’ve told people of our migration story in church, and they’re always amazed and like, “Wow, you guys must have been doing very well in your country”, and so on, for you to afford what you pay for.
Even if one is a driver, they treat the person with the same respect as a mayor. The people here are hot and friendly.
Are there any obligations for families that come over with post-grads?
Yes. Firstly, they have to pay tax. As far as they’re working, they have to be unlike students. Students are limited to 20 hours per week, so it doesn’t interfere with studies, but there’s no time limit for families.
Would you say that tax laws are lenient for families?
Well, yes. So there are two types of tax—the income tax and the council tax. Income tax is a percentage of the salary, while council tax must be paid whether you have a job.
You’d usually pay council tax for utilities such as water, waste disposal, etc.
Speaking from our experience, my husband has been lucky because he found a job in tech shortly before we relocated. But even if he didn’t, they don’t impose council tax returns immediately. We’ve been in the UK for five months, and only last month did they start giving us council tax. Some cities process these things slower or faster than others.
Would you say that jobs are readily accessible for post-grads and their families?
It depends on the location. It is easier to find jobs in places like Edinburgh than in Aberdeen. It’s just like comparing the job opportunities volume between Lagos and Abeokuta.
Everyone can get jobs; depending on location and your skill set, it may take some time.
What do you think of the current visa ban for post-graduate student families?
I’ve heard that and don’t think it’s that way. Over time, the UK has habitually closed its borders for a while and then opened them back. Their visa processing is faster than in places like the US or Canada.
The UK’s land mass is comparatively smaller, so they must be careful. But there will always be a need for international students. From what I’ve been hearing, most universities in the UK cannot run without international students because that’s where the bulk of the money comes from.
If they decide to make this ban permanent, it will affect universities because it will discourage international students from applying to their universities. And that would mean a lack of money for them.
This video from Scottish UK Parliament member Carol Monoghan proves this point. I can understand why it’s happening, though, because you can see Nigerian postgraduate students with courses of 1 year bringing 5-6 family members. It makes one raise eyebrows.
All the same, even though I understand their motivations because of the population explosion, I am not in support of this ban. I’ve been on the other side of the fence regarding making relocation plans, and I know how frustrating it can be to change those plans and re-strategize from scratch. Plus, who wouldn’t like to have their loved ones close to them? It’s not easy.
Have you heard from postgraduate aspirants back home? How do they feel?
Well, everywhere is hot in that regard. I know some of them; the whole situation has made them livid. It has forced people to re-strategize all over again. I am incredibly grateful to God that my husband and I made it out when we did; if not…
If not, indeed. Have you watched the Tiamiyu video? What are your opinions on it?
One thing we need to know about the UK is that they’re very brilliant. They know that people are taking advantage of the study route, but they wouldn’t want to say that for fear of being racist. He just said what he wasn’t supposed to say.
But do you think his actions would affect students already in the UK?
I don’t think so. I think they already know that this is what Nigerians are doing. The decision was already made before they posted the guy’s interview.
But from the Scottish MP’s video, it sounds like not all parties are still on board, and it’s still a matter of debate. Let’s watch and see.
How can your husband then upgrade their visa in the future?
So it depends, as there are several routes. I could either apply for a graduate visa after I graduate for two years, or any of us can get a sponsored job. These processes don’t take time at all.
Do you and your husband ever see yourselves relocating back to Nigeria?
Honestly, no. Maybe I can revisit Nigeria for “Detty December” or other special occasions, but I don’t want to limit myself to just the UK.
My husband and I would love to explore other countries soon.
On Wait First, we divide claims into three categories. A valid claim is a fresh banana. A false claim is burnt dodo. And a misleading claim is cold zobo.
So, how valid is this claim?
[Alex Otti / Punch]
Background
The period immediately after elections is often very litigious. Various courts and tribunals nationwide are neck-deep in suits and countersuits. This is because individuals and parties often contest election outcomes. For example, the Osun State governorship election was disputed all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court eventually in favour of Ademola Adeleke.
Similarly, one Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim filed a suit against the Labour Party (LP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Federal High Court in Kano. This suit’s purpose was to seek to nullify the candidacy of all LP candidates in Kano and Abia States and for the court to revoke the certificates of return issued to all LP candidates declared winners in Kano and the 35 states of the Federation, including the FCT.
According to Premium Times, the judge cited the failure of the Labour Party to submit its membership registers to INEC ahead of the party’s primaries as the reason. A part of the judgement which the newspaper claimed to see on Friday, May 19, read:
“That the failure of the 1st defendant to submit its register of members in Kano State and Abia State is in crass breach of the provisions of section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, and the purported Primary Elections of the 1st defendant is invalid, null and void and of no effect.”
“FactCheckElections contacted a lawyer (Barrister Desmond Orisewezie) on the true interpretation of the judgment. When asked about the court’s true position and whether it has sacked the Abia state governor-elect, the lawyer said, ‘No, it only concerns Kano but has legal implications for Otti and Obi.’
A report credited to NAN states the Federal High Court sitting in Kano has denied nullifying the candidature of the Abia State governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti. “Candidates who participated in the 2023 general election in Abia were not parties before his court. This court lacks jurisdiction to make an order to issue a certificate of return,” Justice Muhammad Nasir-Yunusa was reported to have said.
Another report by Vreporters says the Kano Judge faults the media report of nullifying Abia state governor-elect candidature. “Media reports that it nullified the candidature of the Abia State governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti, who contested the election on the platform of the Labour Party, LP, are misleading,” said the court judge. However, he added that the court annulled the election of all the Kano LP candidates that contested the 2023 general election. Nasir-Yunusa said, “The court declared only the primary election of the Labour Party in Kano State null and void.”
Verdict
Based on the evidence above, reports claiming that a court sacked Abia state governor-elect Alex Otti is misleading. It’s cold and undiluted zobo.
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In the early 1970s, Nigeria’s economy grew rapidly despite just coming out of a Civil War. This was a result of an expansion in the country’s petroleum sector.
The revenue growth was so massive that the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, declared, “Money is not Nigeria’s problem. But how to spend it”.
Decades later, this statement has been a source of controversy, and Gowon himself has had to explain what he meant. But that’s not our concern here. So first, let’s get some context on the Nigerian situation at the time. Shall we?
The Discovery of Oil
People who believe Nigeria’s discovery of oil is a curse may not be far from the truth. As we have witnessed, the wealth that oil has brought us has been the bane of our development.
The first discovery of oil was in 1956. Shell discovered it in Oloibiri, present-day Bayelsa State. As exploration continued, massive onshore and offshore crude oil deposits were found. As a result, Nigeria became one of the world’s largest oil producers.
First test drilling for oil in Nigeria in Oloibiri, Imo State c. 1950 [Ukpuru]
Booming Oil
As oil production grew, Nigeria’s revenue increased exponentially. In 1958, the government’s revenue from oil was N200,000. By 1970, the revenue was N166 million. Just three years later, that number rose to $1.5 billion; in 1975, it reached a record $6 billion.
Nigeria became the second-largest supplier of oil to the United States. But where was the money going?
The Mismanagement of State Resources
The Gowon government embarked on a series of infrastructural projects such as roads, universities, hospitals, office complexes, army barracks, hotels, factories, etc. To execute these projects, the government imported several million tonnes of cement from different countries, including the United States, Romania, Greece, and Spain. For example, the defence ministry ordered more than 16 million tonnes, despite requiring 2.9 million tonnes for its own projects.
Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s former Military Head of State c.1970 [Britannica]
The surge in demand also meant that Nigeria paid more – $115 per tonne of cement. That was nearly three times the market price. As the cement arrived in Nigeria, it exceeded the capacity of the Lagos port, causing gridlock with over four hundred ships battling for dock space. For context, the Lagos port could only accept one million tonnes of cargo per year. This crisis later became known as the “Cement Armada.”
Silent Video on Gen. Gowon’s Visit to Apapa Wharf to Inspect Col. Adekunle’s Work on Port Congestion | May 1970[Adeyinka Makinde/YouTube]
Consequences
At the time, crude oil accounted for 92% of Nigeria’s exports. However, the neglect of other sectors of the economy, especially agriculture, resulted in economic crises years later. Moreover, Nigeria’s failure to properly invest the proceeds from the oil boom came back to haunt it when petroleum prices dipped between 1976 and 1979.
The handling of the oil revenue also created widespread corruption among government officials. Allocation of revenue and awarding of contracts were some of the means used by officials to steal state resources.
Just like the importation of cement, Nigeria also imported food items such as palm oil and groundnuts. This meant a reliance on food imports at the expense of the agricultural economy. With more money in the economy, consumption rose. This resulted in inflation. Between 1973 and 1981, food prices skyrocketed by 273%.
Lessons
The foundation of the problems Nigeria faces today was laid long ago. The oil boom of the 1970s was supposed to help us build an economy that should have sustained us for decades.
Today, Nigeria continues to heavily rely on oil revenues, which leaves the country vulnerable to unpredictable fluctuations in the price of petroleum. Also, the lack of quality leadership, pervasive corruption, and misplaced priorities have significantly hindered the nation’s progress, despite its wealth of resources.
To understand many of Nigeria’s problems, you need a wayback machine that takes you back in time because that’s where it all started.
If you are a Benson Idahosa University (BIU) student in Edo State, Nigeria, you know about the institution’s tense and chaotic atmosphere. Angry protests have erupted, destroying property while mournful students hold candlelight processions. Other students are fleeing the university in droves and returning home until the tension calms. But what is the root cause of this chaos?
To fully understand the cause of the turmoil, you have to know what exactly happened that led to the tragic death of Bruno Chigozie Ezeonye, a 21-year-old final-year student from the faculty of science at the university. His case has shed light on a concerning pattern of poor healthcare systems in many Nigerian tertiary institutions and pervasive medical negligence.
Bruno Chigozie and a tale of medical negligence
On May 22, 2023, final-year BIU students started a week-long series of events to celebrate their last days in school. The week, popularly tagged “final year week,” included a football match in which Bruno participated at the school’s Legacy Campus.
Citizen spoke to an eyewitness and friend, John*, a final-year student at the faculty of science, who shared his account of the incident that led to Bruno’s death.
The events that led to Bruno’s death
With a subdued voice and sad spirit, * John told us that “Bruno wasn’t feeling too well and was complaining that he was weak, but he still participated in the football match. During the match, he slumped and started convulsing. Doctors and other medical personnel arrived late to the football pitch. They tried to give him first aid, but to no avail. To make matters worse, the oxygen tank was empty, and the school could not use the ambulance due to a lack of fuel.
A private car had to transport Bruno to a nearby hospital (Faith Mediplex). When they got to the school gate, the security men on duty didn’t allow them to leave the school without a permit, and they had to call the Head of Life Campus before they could leave. Before they could get to Faith Mediplex, Bruno died. He was a very jovial and popular guy, and I can’t believe he is no longer with us”
Unfortunately, Bruno isn’t the first to die due to medical negligence at BIU. Two sources say the school’s healthcare facility has always been at an all-time low, with doctors and nurses “doing nothing” but “watch TV and chill in the clinic.”
They also alleged that a similar incident occurred in 2018, resulting in the unfortunate death of a student due to delayed medical attention. According to their account, students reacted by setting fire to the school’s clinic in response to this incident.
What are the authorities doing about it?
The day after, the school’s registrar circulated a memo announcing the immediate closure of the Legacy Campus. The management determined that this closure was necessary to look into Bruno’s death and repair the damages the protest caused.
The school made a statement on Bruno’s death. This was posted on their social media page. However, it quickly became controversial due to the claim that he was “promptly attended to by the medical doctor on duty.”
It was quickly taken down, and a new post was made, but it was noticed that the same claim was still made.
Unfortunately, there are more victims like Bruno
This incident might have happened at a private university, but Bruno isn’t the first victim of medical negligence and a lack of accountability across Nigeria’s higher institutions. Here are three victims of similar circumstances:
Mayowa Alaran
In 2015, Mayowa, a student at the University of Ibadan, was in a tightly packed common room with 100 or more students when he suddenly fainted. People called the Jaja clinic emergency hotline, which had promised to send an ambulance that never came.
His friend, Egbe, had to rush him to the clinic on a bike, or okada. He later died after nurses tried to resuscitate him.
Austin Okafor
On October 2, 2018, Austin, a University of Benin (UNIBEN) student, went to the health centre for medical attention. This was after discovering that he was experiencing hematuria, which is the presence of blood in the urine. He was referred to the university’s teaching hospital, and there was an attempt to get to the hospital via ambulance.
Unfortunately, the ambulance couldn’t go past the school gate without clearance. It took nearly 35 minutes for them to get one. When they arrived at the teaching hospital, Austin was left alone at the Accident and Emergency Ward for another 15 minutes without any doctor attending. He eventually died.
Precious Mhenuteur
On January 28, 2023, a 22-year-old University of Calabar (UNICAL) student, Precious Mheneuter, fell ill in the hostel and was rushed to the school’s medical centre. She was denied medical care simply because she had no medical card. It was impossible to get a card. This was because the incident happened at 5 a.m. and the records office hadn’t opened yet.
She died two hours later at 7 a.m. Precious was later taken to the mortuary at 8 a.m. without the school informing her parents.
What actions must be taken to stop the trend of medical negligence?
From all indications, the authorities of higher institutions are not paying close attention to the medical needs of their students.
We are calling out all school authorities to ensure all medical facilities in schools are up and running. They should also discipline erring medical practitioners and remove bureaucratic systems in cases of emergency.
If you are aware of someone who has suffered from medical negligence, you may sue them and even receive compensation from the High Courts and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. Find out how to do it here.
No wham, our friends at Civic Hive know, and we will tell you in three minutes.
Who is an active citizen?
First, an active citizen takes responsibility and initiative in matters of public concern in an informed, committed, and constructive manner.
In other words, you must participate so blessings won’t pass you by.
You must do everything in this article to be considered an active citizen.
Pay your tax
As an employed citizen, you have to pay your taxes. This is a percentage of your earnings that you must pay the government for social amenities to meet the country’s needs.
Ask questions
Learning is our job, and the nation will benefit if we, as citizens, take advantage of every chance to participate in civic activities in our neighbourhoods. You have to question your government, be interested in how policies are being shaped, and always share responses and insights with those who aren’t privy to the information we have. All this to say, keep your government on its toes.
Register to vote.
You can vote once you are 18 or older. To ensure your representation in government, it is your civic duty to register and participate in elections.
Respect the Constitution and obey all local, state, and federal laws.
As you hold the government accountable, you also must respect your country’s constitution by upholding its laws without reservation.
Sabi your rights and protect those of others.
Every citizen must be fully aware of their rights and know when they are being violated. You should also learn to respect and stand up for other people.
Know and engage with your representatives.
You should take an interest in the legislative activities of your country. In Nigeria, for example, you must pay attention to how the National Assembly operates. Start by recognising which person represents you across all governance levels and communicating with them frequently.
Participate in your local community.
Lastly, to be an active citizen, you must participate in activities starting with your local community and contributing to national development.
If we genuinely want to see the changes we demand as citizens, we must all demand more from ourselves to become active citizens.
To learn more about being an active citizen, click here.
As the curtain closes on President Buhari’s eight years in power, Nigerians are left to reflect upon a legacy marked by regrettably missed opportunities. Ebenezer Obadare, a political expert, describes Buhari’s time in office this way:
“That Buhari managed to turn such wild enthusiasm about his candidacy into grave disappointment, going from a regime of which many, rightly or not, had high hopes, to one that most can’t wait to see the back of, ranks among the most remarkable instances of reputational collapse in the whole of Nigerian political history.
It was clear within the first few months—the initial struggle to put together a cabinet being particularly telling—that Buhari, for all his desperation to take power, had not done his homework and was ill-prepared for the demands of the office.”
Riding on the “Sai Baba, Sai Buhari” mantra and backed by a political figure like Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there were high expectations that Buhari would put Nigeria on the right trajectory. However, Buhari failed to live up to expectations of his promises.
They’ll also say he assented to many bills the coming administration can hopefully build upon. Some will also applaud Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic under his watch, which the WHO ranked as the fourth-most successful globally. While Buhari can claim these achievements, the tradeoff has come at a steep cost.
His anticorruption stance initially earned him the “Mai Gaskiya” title, meaning “the honest one.” Time has, however, eroded that perception. Nothing captures this better than when he granted pardons to two ex-governors, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, who were indicted for corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said they were demoralised by that action, having spent eleven years and hundreds of millions of naira prosecuting those cases.
No other president has plunged Nigeria into as much debt as he has. In his eight years in office, Buhari raised Nigeria’s debt from $7.3 billion, inherited from former President Goodluck Jonathan, to $41.8 billion—a 400% increase.
His economic policies left many scratching their heads. Take your pick from anyone between the controversial Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, TraderMoni, the naira redesign, and the shutdown of our borders. All told, 133 million Nigerians now live in multidimensional poverty. The World Bank projects that by 2025, 13 million more Nigerians will join them. Unemployment will rise to 41% this year.
Buhari has a mixed record on human capital development. Some people might say it’s terrible. Although there were capital interventions in the health and education sectors, the unending ASUU strikes and the brain drain of doctors tell you all you need to know about how that went. This follows a recurring theme in Buhari’s administration. Money is thrown at projects that either become misappropriated or poorly executed.
Due to his military credentials, many Nigerians expected him to bolster security. This turned out to be a massive letdown. While it’s true that Boko Haram has recently piped down, it’s unclear if that is entirely due to Buhari’s efforts or the internecine struggles of Islamist terrorist groups in northern Nigeria. In the South-East, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has been a constant scourge with its enforced sit-at-home orders. The rise in banditry and kidnapping for ransom across Nigeria is alarming. A former minister described it as a “burgeoning industry”.
The Vanguard reports that since he assumed office in May 2015, 63,111 Nigerians have been killed under his administration. And young Nigerians will not forget the events of EndSARS, culminating in the military officers’ shooting of unarmed protesters on October 20, 2020. Till today, Buhari hasn’t told us who gave the kill order.
We could point to his nepotism as evident in his lopsided appointments, disregard for the rule of law, clampdown on the media, frequent junketing and medical tourism, and inability to unite Nigerians. Losses in several areas quickly overshadowed any gains he made in one area. Based on these, his eight years as president are best described as a net negative. This is Buhari’s legacy.
Buhari’s famous last words
Buhari was camera-shy in his early days in office and rarely addressed the media. This came with several conspiracy theories about his health, such as possessing a body double. Nigerians on Twitter will also recall that he locked his comment section for a while.
However, the latter end of his regime has seen him speak out more, surprisingly off the cuff. Buhari asked Nigerians for forgiveness in April, saying he’d accept all criticism. This represents a marked departure from the nonchalant and aloof demeanour that has become a representation of his political career. Despite his hard-guy stance, Buhari cares what we think of him and wants history to be kind to him.
But perhaps the most revealing utterance Buhari has made to date comes from his speech on May 23 at the launch of the new headquarters of the Nigerian Customs Service in Abuja. A viral portion of that speech has made it online. In the speech, he explained his reason for the controversial closure of Nigeria’s land borders.
Buhari said it was deliberate and designed to force Nigerians to grow what they eat. He genuinely thinks it was a good policy, which Nigerians “appreciated” him for eventually. He added, “I said these few things about my personal belief because I have only six more days to go. And I plan to be as far away from Abuja as possible.
Thank goodness, I come from an area far away from Abuja. I said if anybody forces me, I have a good relationship with my neighbours, Niger people will defend me.”
Nigerians are reeling in utter shock at their Commander-in-Chief.
Buhari has earned widecondemnation for his comments on various sociocultural forums. These include the MiddleBelt Forum, the Afenifere, the Pan Niger Delta Forum PANDEF, and the Northern Elders Forum.
And yet, for all the uproar, Buhari has consistently said that he’s all about himself for the last eight years. In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, Buhari said: “I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody.” If only we knew and were ready.
On May 29, 2023, the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will give his inaugural speech. Despite misgivings about the elections, Tinubu’s speech might give insights into what to expect from his administration. Ultimately, if Buhari’s time in office has taught us anything, we should set our expectations lower.
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This story of British tyranny and resistance began when the British Empire declared Northern Nigeria a protectorate in 1900.
Northern Nigeria Protectorate (1900-1914) [Dead Country Stamps and Banknotes]
In reality, there was no “urgent” need to conquer the territory. Northern Nigeria at the time held no economic resources for them, and the local traditional rulers didn’t even like the British due to their previous activities of tyranny in other regions.
To justify their actions to the public, they decided to go with the narrative of “keeping the peace” in the Sokoto Caliphate due to their corrupt, oppressive rule and incessant slave raiding.
View of Kano City, Nigeria, capital of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1851. [Heinrich Barth]
But really, they had their own fears. They knew that their European rivals like France and Italy could easily take over the territory if they slacked on their authority, and the local leaders may never give them the respect they felt they deserved.
Thus, they felt it expedient to conquer the North and conquered it fast.
For this task, they chose one man. This was the man behind the amalgamation of Nigeria and the nation’s “founding father”, Lord Frederick Dealtry Lugard.
Lord Frederick Lugard, 1st baron [Elliott & Fry]
Lugard’s origin story
To understand the story of Lord Lugard, we need to understand his origins.
He came from a polygamous family, with his mom being the third wife to his father, a chaplain in the East India Company.
Lugard was a British Army soldier who later received a posting to India, where he began an illicit relationship with an unnamed married woman and later got jilted by her. The heartbreak was so intense that he decided to go to Africa to escape unhappy memories under the British East Africa Company. This was from 1889–1892.
Before he came to Nigeria, he was already knee-deep in controversy concerning his time in Uganda. In his efforts to capture the nation for the British Crown, he was accused of playing a key role in the massacre of natives and using excessive force.
Uganda under colonial rule in government reports, 1903-1961 [Microform]
Arrival into Nigeria and military promotion
When Lugard arrived in Nigeria in 1894, he nearly died from a poisonous arrow.
The incident happened as he returned from his negotiation duties with the local chiefs in Borgu (a region in present-day Niger State), under the Royal Niger Company. He only survived on the herbal potions that the native doctors in the area administered to him.
Three years later, in 1897, he was appointed commandant of the newly formed West African Frontier Force and, in 1900, High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria.
And as a high commissioner, he needed to show the natives that a new force in town needed to be obeyed.
Lugard as colonial administrator, Northern Nigeria [Britannica]
The plot truly thickens here, with one line of correspondence that would change the course of history for Nigeria’s northern territory.
The spark of defiance that led to a full-blown war
After the official declaration of the North’s transformation as a protectorate in 1900, Lugard needed to inform the local leaders officially of Britain’s presence in the area.
To achieve this, he sent a Hausa translation of the proclamation to the Sarkin Musulmi, or “leader of all Muslims”, Abdulrahman. He had been in power for nine years before the arrival of the British.
The latter didn’t respond, but the messenger reports that he turned to his court and said, “No letters ever brought fear like this one. I will read no more letters from these white men.”
The refusal to respond made Lugard extremely angry, as it was interpreted as an insult to him and the King of Britain.
With this in mind and to also teach Abdulrahman, Lugard made his way to the ancient cities of Bida and Kontogora to claim them under British command — without the Sarkin’s permission.
Want to know more about the tyranny and fall of the Bida Empire under the British? Then check out this weekly time machine again at the same time next week.
The phrase “good things don’t last forever” seems to be the new reality for Nigerians aspiring to relocate to the United Kingdom (UK).
Once a popular travel destination for the Nigerian “japa” dream, it is slowly dropping off the ‘wannabe list’.
The UK is set to add new restrictions to curb its migrant population boom. This week, the monarchy-led country plans to disclose more details of a restriction affecting foreign postgraduates; they won’t be able to bring their families to the UK.
There are claims that this targeted Africans, and there are many reasons to believe so. But who exactly are the affected parties, and what would the impact of this restriction be for aspiring international students?
The affected parties
These include mostly students aspiring for a Master’s degree and some other postgraduate degrees. However, highly skilled PhD students with 3-5 years courses will remain unscathed by the ban.
What brought about this upcoming policy change? To understand this, we need to understand a few things that contributed to the need for the UK to have plans for travel restrictions.
In September 2022, official immigration data released by the British government revealed a surge in the number of foreign students in the UK. Students brought 135,788 family members—that’s nine times more than in 2019. Nigerian students—59,053 alone—brought over 60,923 relatives.
UK government when they saw the numbers
As a result, the UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has considered clamping down on international students coming to the UK due to the massive “structural pressures” that it imposes.
The decision also follows reports that net migration into the UK has hit 1 million. This has made the Tory MPs ‘apply pressure’ on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “to get a grip on the rocketing numbers”.
UK’s 2019 international education strategy
In case you didn’t know, the UK wasn’t always a popular destination for Nigerian students. Between 2012 and 2017, the country experienced a 27% drop in Nigerian student admissions, and they saw the need to up their game.
How we imagine the UK government plotting a way out of their predicament
Hence, the Department for Education and the Department for International Trade created the International Education Strategy in March 2019.
In this strategy, Nigeria was part of five high-priority countries (India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam) that the UK chose to achieve two main goals. This was to increase education exports by £35 billion per year and increase the number of international higher education students studying in the UK to 600,000 annually.
This plan worked on the Nigerian front, as the number of Nigerians who obtained UK student visas experienced a 39% increase (from 13,020 in 2019 to 21,305 in 2020).
But this wasn’t enough for the UK government. They needed to sweeten the deal, and in October 2020, the British Home Office introduced the student visa. It was established as an improvement to the former mode of student migration, called Tier 4. Among many new guidelines, it created a unique, golden opportunity for Nigerian students—to leave the country with their families.
But even though this served as a blessing in disguise for international students, we can all see what the UK government is about to do. Problem.
But why is the UK such a popular choice for Nigerian students?
Due to these factors, the average Nigerian student can do anything to fund their access to UK education, from scholarships to even loans from family and friends.
Is the ban valid or not?
According to opinions on Twitter, most agree that there would be a drastic reduction in not just the families who make it abroad but in foreign students themselves.
The UK government's statement suggests that they are considering a potential ban on dependents of international students, from entering the country. However, your headline highlights Nigerians, inaccurately portraying Nigeria in a negative manner. This raises valid concerns…
However, this could also mean the UK government ‘shooting themselves in the foot’.
A 2021 report by SBM Intelligence revealed that Nigerian students and their families contributed as much as £1.9 billion to the economy in the 2020/2021 session. And really, would they want to miss out on that bag?
Here’s how politics generally works. A seat is up for grabs. Different candidates contest that seat. This process involves campaigning, lobbying, media appearances, endorsements, promises, and, of course, money. A political campaign, be it for newbies or career politicians, involves telling people about your past achievements and why it’d make a fine precursor for the goodies you have for them should they elect you to office. Naturally, not everyone will buy your story—you’re in a contest, after all.
Here’s how politics works if you’re Godswill Akpabio. You’re a lawyer and former two-term governor of one of Nigeria’s oil-rich states, Akwa Ibom. Despite raising controversy by decamping from the party that brought you into politics, you’ve done well for yourself and are now a serving senator. But you’re not content with just that. You want to be Senate President, and now you find yourself in a stiff contest as other politicians are eyeing that juicy position. So what do you do?
You get endorsements from former colleagues
While Akpabio hasn’t officially declared for the seat yet, the Cable reported earlier in May that Akpabio received endorsements for Senate President from 72 ex-senators. The outgoing governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, also said it was a settled matter. His words:
“The senate president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will come from the south-south, and it is no other person than the former governor of Akwa Ibom. The uncommon governor is the uncommon minister who will be the uncommon president of the Senate. So we have resolved that.
I am giving you assurance. We are waiting for the D-Day that he will be the senate president of Nigeria.”
If you’re Akpabio, that should be job done then, right? Not quite. Akpabio, more than anyone, knows how slippery Nigerian politics is. He was in the Senate when Bukola Saraki engineered an audacious coup that saw him emerge, against all expectations, as the eighth Senate President. Besides, he won’t be swayed by the assurance of Ganduje, who boasted about winning Kano State for Bola Ahmed Tinubu only to fall flat on his face.
[Before]
[After]
Lobby from outside your party
Akpabio has reached out across party lines to get support for his Senate Presidency ambition. On May 18, Vanguard reported that Akpabio held meetings with the leadership of the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). The LP has eight senators, while the NNPP has two. The PDP, which he decamped from, has the second-highest number of senators, with 36.
Overall, the Nigerian Senate has 109 senators. Out of that number, the APC has 59 senators. To win, you need to earn the highest number of votes. However, because Akpabio faces competition from within his party, he can’t rely on just his party’s votes. This explains his intense lobbying.
Ask Nigerians to forgive and forget your recent past
Akpabio’s most recent gig was his appointment as Minister for Niger Delta Affairs between 2019 and 2022, when he resigned in his failed bid to run for president. Akpabio, however, doesn’t have fond memories of his time as minister. He wants Nigerians not to judge him based on his performance there. His words:
“I do know that I have not changed in any way. God has given me the opportunity to be an uncommon transformer wherever I go. I will not like to be judged by ministerial appointment for Niger Delta, which everybody knows is a problematic place. But I would like to be judged by my record as a lawyer of 36 years, commissioner of six years and a governor of eight years.”
Who will tell Akpabio that that’s not how politics works? And why do Nigerian politicians think they can wave a wand and expect us to forget their misdeeds? It’s giving Buhari, who wants Nigerians to remember him fondly while turning a blind eye to his failures in governance, security, and the economy.
In July 2020, Akpabio appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta in a forensic audit hearing of ₦81.5bn spent by his ministry. He was accused of misappropriating the funds. Akpabio, in his defence, said most of the people who benefitted from contracts from his ministry were National Assembly members. As soon as that revelation was made, a committee member interjected and told Akpabio on live TV to “off your mic.”
This is Nigeria anyway, so there’s no prize for guessing how that has played out. Ultimately, it’s in the public interest to know about the person who might become the number three man in Nigeria. And against the recommendation of Nigerian politicians, we won’t “off our mic” just like that on Akpabio’s past.
For Navigating Nigeria this week, Citizen spoke to Itunuoluwa Awolu, a lawyer and the fundraising director at the Headfort Foundation, an NGO focused on providing free and easy access to justice to indigent and wrongly incarcerated inmates, victims of police brutality, and minor offenders. She shared her thoughts on the Nigerian correctional system and how it can be reformed.
Editorial Note: Navigating Nigeria is a platform for Nigerians to passionately discuss the Nigerian experience with little interference from individual opinions. While our editorial standards emphasise the truth and endeavour to fact-check claims and allegations, we are not responsible for allegations made about other people based on half-truths.
Icebreaker. Have you ever heard of Citizen and the work we do?
Yeah, of course I have. And I’ve gone through some of your stories and interviews. You guys like interviewing people about relatable occurrences or things affecting their communities. And that’s one thing I love about Zikoko Citizen, bringing the media to the people.
I think that’s crazy. It’s crazy in the sense that if you look at the work that we do at Headfort Foundation and the inmates for whom we’ve secured their freedom, the stories that are shared as regards their experience in prison make it unbelievable to think that amount of money is put into the correctional system.
How do we have that kind of budget and see people with different health issues when they come out of correctional facilities? You hear them complain about starvation. The food they receive is so poor that you wouldn’t even give it to animals.
The Minister of Interior must explain precisely how that money is spent. To think that that amount of money is put into feeding almost sounds too good to be true, but I’m not going to categorically say that it’s a lie because I’m not in the system. But from the reviews and reports we’ve gotten from inmates who have interacted with our foundation, it’s unbelievable.
Interesting. Do you want to tell us more about what Headfort does and how it started?
Yes, Headfort Foundation started in March 2019. We provide easy access to justice through different means, such as providing free legal services to poor people who can’t afford to engage the services of a lawyer.
We also integrate the rehabilitation process for inmates after securing their freedom. Also, we sensitise the Nigerian public about their rights. We raise awareness about the effects of police brutality, how to engage with police officers, police-community relations, and the consequences of crime. We adopt different practical approaches.
Since we started in 2019, we’ve secured the freedom of 445 persons for free. We also have a mobile app called Lawyers NowNow that connects citizens with lawyers. So if you’re in Lagos, for example, and require a pro bono lawyer, you can use the app to contact us. If you have a case at the police station or are due in court and need legal advice, you can contact us.
How does Heardfort Foundation help people who are unjustly arrested or facing incarceration? Please share the process. I’d like to know how you advocate for their rights and provide them with legal representation.
Every month, we go for prison visitations to take on cases of people who meet our set criteria because it’s not everyone we can take on—legal services must be paid for. But we try to optimise for people languishing in custody because they are poor, illiterate, or unjustly arrested. We ensure that we take up their cases and secure their freedom, which is our way of providing justice for them. Then we also have mobile offices in some courts in Lagos and Ogun states.
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Unfortunately, yes. And it’s not just peculiar to Nigeria. It shouldn’t be so, but when you look at Nigeria, some other African countries, and even across the world, the issue of over-congestion is a big deal. This is why we have different enactments regarding fundamental human rights. Fundamental human rights should be respected, such as the right to dignity. Inhumane and degrading treatments shouldn’t occur in correctional centres because they’re congested.
When you look at the percentage of inmates in correctional facilities creating this congestion, you’ll see that many of them are awaiting trial, or pretrial detainees, as they’re referred to in other climes.
Now bringing it back to Nigeria. This has been the reality for decades, and although the government has tried, the issue persists. A correctional facility was built to take 4,000 inmates but is housing 9,000. And if you check the category of these inmates, not all are convicts. Many of them are pretrial detainees. This means their trials haven’t even commenced in court; they’re just there languishing in custody, and no one’s sure they’d be found guilty.
From our work at Hertford Foundation, we’ve seen cases where people spent eight years, 11 years in prison. I think 11 years has been our highest number. Eleven years in custody without trial.
Wawu
Someone goes to the police station to report a case, or the police pick up people, and then, due to the high level of corruption, you see that people are taken to court over frivolous charges, and there’s no evidence to back it up. There’s no way to prove that this person has committed the crime for which they’re being charged. Then they remain in custody because there’s no way they’ll start the trial without evidence against them.
You find out that the justice system is a prolonged one in Nigeria. The judges are trying, but they’re also limited. You go to some courts and see judges with 40, 50 cases to adjudicate daily. When the judge gives an adjournment, it can last months.
So in a year, someone in custody may only appear three or four times before a judge. Before you know it, a person would’ve spent five or ten years awaiting trial.
My goodness
When the trial eventually commences, closing the case can take another five or 10 years. And this affects the entire justice system because the courts and wardens are overwhelmed while inmates suffer.
Imagine someone is charged with an offence punishable by one month of imprisonment, and then this person has spent three or four years. How’s that justice?
You’ve raised issues worth pondering. What would you recommend?
Importantly, correctional centres are made for rehabilitation and reformation purposes. As such, in Nigeria, we’ve been trying to lean towards that model to ensure that people aren’t kept just for the sake of custody. They should be reformed and reintegrated into the society. We’re still lagging here.
I recommend that now that we have the correctional service under the concurrent list, states can, hopefully, have the financial capacity to build and run their correctional service centres. This way, we’d solve this overcrowding problem, eliminating all these challenges of health issues among inmates. It would also address fears of hardened criminals influencing one-time offenders or innocent ones.
I also recommend the use of restorative justice and non-custodial sentences. Not every offender needs to go to a correctional centre. The system can then adequately cater to those who need rehabilitation and reformation.
Let’s talk about the issue of jailbreaks. We’ve had a spike in those recently, with escaped inmates unaccounted for. What are your thoughts?
With technological advancement happening in the financial system and other sectors, you’d find out that we’re still lagging in technology regarding the justice system and even our security agencies. This, in turn, affects the correctional service centres—there’s no data.
When you want to calculate the estimated number of part-time inmates in custody, the general public doesn’t have that data. Unless the Minister of Interior or their spokespersons say, we have 75k people and must work with whatever they say. So when you have a jailbreak, like in Edo State or Lagos State during the COVID-19 pandemic, where some facilities got burned, and data in files not backed up are lost, these questions come up. Many inmates in custody have their files missing.
Whew
These are the challenges. For example, the burned facilities have been renovated in Lagos, but can they regenerate the lost data? So when there’s a jailbreak and inmates escape, the lack of adequate data means it’ll be difficult to recover them. Those apprehended probably had issues finding a place to go or no money to transport themselves out of the state. It’s also easy for the authorities to pick up people wandering about. They’ll return them and say they were part of the escaped inmates. This happens because there’s no data to guarantee that these people picked up were the same as those who escaped.
We must inculcate technology into our data collection and stop making it secretive. This applies to law enforcement agents at correctional service centres who can be secretive. There’s secrecy around the available data they have, which even extends to when you go for prison visitation.
As much as we want to protect data, we should also be able to ascertain that whenever we need data for the inmates or for whatever legal purpose, we’ll access it.
The Nigerian Prison Service has changed its name to the Nigerian Correctional Service, suggesting a reformatory model. Yet Nigeria still practises capital punishment. Over 3,000 Nigerian inmates are on death row. What are your thoughts on this?
Beyond changing the name from the Nigerian Prison Service to the Nigerian Correctional Service, the Nigerian Correctional Service Act was also passed into law [in 2019].
One of the recommendations was to make a provision for inmates on death row to have their sentencing commuted to life imprisonment. This is for situations where a person has spent over 10 years in custody.
So if, after 10 years of sentencing someone to death, that person remains in custody, appeals have been made to either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court, and this person is awaiting execution, the Chief Judge of that state has the duty of commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment. That’s what that Act has done.
Hmmmm…
I understand that since we now have a correctional centre, people on death row should be forgiven and the death penalty removed. However, I think the death penalty remains necessary to instill fear in other people who are yet to be caught and to make them understand that the punishment for this grave crime is death.
I think that’s why the death penalty still exists. Most times, you rarely even see governors assent to the death penalty being carried out. So you see many people awaiting the execution of their sentences, but the governors are not ready to implement them. The essence of it is to deter. Although it’s also true that we’re still holding on to archaic and pre-colonial beliefs that instituted the death penalty, we still don’t believe that for grievous offences, the death penalty should be removed because it’s going to pass the message that the worst that can happen is remaining in custody for many years.
I think that if, after 10 years, the death penalty can be commuted to life imprisonment, why not just remove the death penalty? And let’s have life imprisonment as the maximum sentence. But I also understand the perspective of people who are victims of grievous crimes. When you see someone who’s killed, say, 30 or 40 people, it’s hard to argue to the victims’ families that such people are entitled to remain in custody, breathing and enjoying the right to life.
Robust response there. Tell us about female inmates. Do they suffer similar indignities as male inmates in Nigerian correctional facilities?
I’ll say no, they don’t. I mean, they don’t face the level of pain or degrading, inhumane treatment their male counterparts face. First of all, female prisons are rarely congested. In Nigeria, we have over 75,000 inmates in custody, and over 73,000 are male. And then we have like 1,600 or so who are female. So it means the female correctional facilities are not congested; they’ve been managed well. Because they’re a limited number, the staff can take care of them. Even if significant rehabilitation or reformation is not being done, they’re at least able to enjoy some rights better than their male counterparts.
They face fewer health challenges and get relatively better medical care than male inmates.
How does the Headfort Foundation raise funds, and how can we help?
Fundraising is still a significant challenge for us, especially considering the scale of our work at the foundation. We provide free legal services for many people with our limited resources. This means there’s also a limit to the number of people we can help.
Every quarter, we organise fundraising online, whereby we have donation links that we share on all of our social media platforms. We seek support from people to donate to us so we can continue to do our work. The operation is vital.
We also look for organisations and individuals to partner with us and help sponsor our projects. Headfort Foundation holds sensitisation programs, mentorship and rehabilitation programs, and vocational training as a means for our beneficiaries to gain employment. We connect them with employers and even provide scholarships for them. And for those with business ideas, we give them financial support to start up or continue from where they stopped before incarceration. We also provide accommodation facilities for some of them who have accommodation challenges.
As I mentioned, we go on prison visitations to support inmates and provide essential items like toiletries, food, and books. But none of these can happen without support from partners and everyday Nigerians like you. A little donation can go a long way.
[You can learn more about what the Headfort Foundation does here. If you’d like to support the Headfort Foundation financially, use the Flutterwave donation link here.]
