Below The Headlines — 06
Below The Headlines — 06
Welcome to the week that was in Nigerian news. We comb the web for news about Nigeria and Nigerians, in Nigeria and outside Nigeria, that you may have missed.
Inside Nigeria
“Further investigation showed he impersonated an agent of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation by the name, John Smith.” — The audacity of Solomon Eke who lives in Kaduna. He was sentenced to 3yrs in prison and ordered to forfeit his iPhone 14 Pro Max to the Nigerian government — Punch
Two girls, 18 and 22, were sentenced to 5yrs in prison for selling a 1yr old baby in Calabar. They have refused to disclose who the buyer was. They sold the child for N150,000 — Guardian
“When I asked her why the use of soft drink, instead of shampoo and hair conditioner, she drew my attention to the high cost of hair treatment products which, according to her, have also reduced in quality” — Maintaining beauty in a time of high inflation requires thinking outside the box. One lady confessed she got the idea from YouTube — Vanguard
President Tinubu has been meeting quite a number of people. However, I think Wike’s jacket in the photo of this meeting is the most interesting thing Tinubu met this week — Premium Times
The new Governor of Niger State, Umar Bago, has threatened to appoint only women in his next set of appointments — ThisDay
Edo has joined Kwara in moving its workers to 3 days a week in the office as a response to the removal of fuel subsidies — Tribune
I don’t know how Obafemi Martins got to the point where he had to deny having triplets. But here we are — Vanguard
There are more than 50,000 records in the Guinness Book of World Records but someone in Ekiti has decided to try the cooking one again — The Nation
Man said he could not afford the transport fare from Abuja to Kaduna to attend his divorce hearing but asked the court to grant his wife her wish. Just to be sure, the Judge asked them to call him over the phone and he concurred. Wife offered to refund her bride price and he asked her to keep it for their child’s feeding. This counts as an ‘amicable’ divorce in my books — Daily Post
Former Governors, one time besties but now sworn enemies, Umar Ganduje and Rabiu Kwankwaso happened to be in Aso Rock at the same time on Friday. They did not run into each other which was a shame because Ganduje later told the media he would have slapped Kwankwaso had he seen him — Punch
Outside Nigeria
I was at Burna Boy’s concert at the London Stadium last week. Whatever one might say about him (and there are manythings to say), the man has incredible stage presence. Several UK papers have reviewed the concert very positively — The Times (5/5), The Telegraph (5/5), UK Guardian (4/5), i News (4/5)
A couple of brothers who are too corrupt for India and fled the country as a result are now enjoying life in Nigeria. Another excellent report by William Clowes — Yahoo (via Bloomberg)
The first ever group show in the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) history features 7 Nigerian photographers with some arresting photographs — NYT, MoMA
There are so many stories of Christians under attack in Nigeria in the Christian foreign press these days. A narrative that is solidifying by the day. Here’s one on some Dominican Sisters in Sokoto — National Catholic Reporter
News from Cameroun — “At first, I could sell up to 2,000 liters a day, but as of now, I hardly sell up to 200 liters a day due to the rise in the price of petrol from Cross River state, Nigeria.” — VOA
Fitch Ratings like what they have seen so far from President Bola Tinubu although they wonder about his capacity to execute — Fitch
“The consequences are proving devastating. In Port Harcourt, the most populous city in the Niger Delta, the prevalence of birth defects stands at 20.73 per 1,000 live births, compared with 04.15 in the South East of Nigeria, and 05.51 in the North East of the country, according to a study from 2022.” — That is what living near gas flaring is doing to Nigerians (230,000 people in the country live within 2 km of flares) — Telegraph
I try to make this newsletter about more than violence in Nigeria because every country should have more than a single story about it. Yet the sheer amount of violence reported out of Nigeria is staggering. 30 people were killed and several children kidnapped in Bauchi , Zamfara and Sokoto in the last couple of days— Reuters
AfroNation, the fast growing 4 year old music festival, is finally making its way to Nigeria later this year — AfroNation
Abuja based Yahoo Boy is caught by the Nigerian Police in an international operation after he defrauded an Australian in an online romance scam. He will now have to refund his victim $60,000 — Daily Mail
Mel and Aaron are a couple making highly acclaimed champagne in a vineyard in Kaikōura, a small island of 2,000 people in New Zealand. And how did they develop a love of champagne you ask? “It was in Lagos we really started drinking a lot of champagne and really getting to know the intricacies of it as a beverage” — RNZ
72yr old Bola Alade-Gbami has been charged with fraud in New York. He is accused of collecting $21,000 in salaries for work he never did in part because he was on trips to Nigeria (he faked his timesheets). A sad end to a career that began with the New York Children’s Services agency in 1996 — NY Post
Micheal Udebuluzor, who was born in Hong Kong, is waiting for this passport to come through so he can play for the country of his birth. He’s a striker and Hong Kong are desperate for one having not scored in 3 games. Michael’s father, Cornelius, who moved to Hong Kong in the 90s, previously played for Hong Kong — SCMP
What is Afrobeats? — Euronews
Ballard Partners named Lai Mohammed as the managing partner of their new Nigerian operation. In their citation, they said this: “The Minister has also been awarded several diplomas in different parts of the world including Diplomes d’Etudes Francaise 3ieme Degree in both Dakar, Senegal and Vichy France” — Vichy France? Lai Mohammed was educated in Nazi occupied Germany? Well, well, well — Ballard Partners
We had a quiet week on 1914 Reader. I wrote about the embarrassing scandal of Tingo.
See you next week.