Below The Headlines — 09
Welcome to this week's slightly delayed newsletter.
Inside Nigeria
“I’m advising the government to, first of all, find time to sit with these bandits, just like they sat with Niger Delta militants in the past. Because a majority of them are Nigerians, even though there are some foreigners among them. But Nigerians among them can be convinced, as the Niger Delta militants were convinced and empowered to stop” — Senator Sani Yerima offers his two cents — Daily Trust
“The defendant was said to have asked Offiah to buy her a house and a Sport Utility Vehicle, and when he refused, she decided to circulate a threatening and defamatory publication about him on social media” — The matter is now being settled in court — Punch
A man in Akwa-Ibom sold his 9 year old son for N400,000 — Vanguard
“Veteran gospel act and current Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Gospel Musician Association of Nigeria, Funmi Aragbaye, has slammed popular gospel singer, Tope Alabi, for her controversial use of ‘aboru aboye,’ a term commonly associated with Ifa worshippers, in a newly released song” — There is so much going on here it is difficult to know where to begin — Punch
Nigerian Police are making the usual noises about ‘reviewing’ the deployment of Mobile Policemen to private citizens after a video showed 7 ‘MOPOL’ effectively guarding a cow about to be slaughtered for Sallah. I suppose a cow is a very valuable item in today’s economy — Leadership
Rail track vandalism is now so rampant that even in Nassarawa, an army chief claims that arrested rail track thieves tried to bribe their way out of trouble with N5m. The future of infrastructure development in Nigeria is worrying to say the least — Guardian
Article lamenting the sharp increase in ram prices. What N70,000 got last year may now cost more than N250,000 this year — Vanguard
The year is 2023 and a woman has been beaten and burnt to death for witchcraft in Cross River state — Guardian
“I was married to two women, but because of the situation of things in the country, I had to let go of one of them […] Managing the one (wife) remaining also became difficult, too, so I had to send her with our four children back home. It’s easier to survive there than here” — Yunusa Ahmad is 43 and trying to dig himself out of the hole he put himself in — Tribune
“A car dealer, Mohammed Manga had raised the alarm that a suspect identified simply as Henry, who disguised as a customer, absconded with the vehicle while testing it” — The car in question is a Mercedes Benz valued at N55m. Henry tested it so much he really liked it — Daily Post
“I’ve told my landlord to stick to the old rent of N100,000. He hinted of the price increase in January with effect from June 1. But by May 29, Tinubu dropped the first bomb on us, which was the shocking removal of the fuel subsidy” — The landlord went ahead to increase the rent so the matter is now in court. The rest of the article is about the sharp increase in rents in low income parts of Abuja — Sun News
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by Docuhelp
Outside Nigeria
“A new oil spill at a Shell facility in Nigeria has contaminated farmland and a river, upending livelihoods in the fishing and farming communities in part of the Niger Delta” — Goes on to say that the spill went on for over a week and reached near Port Harcourt, 10kms away — US News
“For 33 years I’ve been living here in peace,” says Ms Obueza. “I’m pleading to the government: give us a chance to stay.” — She arrived in Japan in 1991 after fleeing genital mutilation in Nigeria. The country only grants 1% of asylum applications so many people like her are left in limbo for years — The Economist
Christian leaders in northern Nigeria publicly condemned the killing of a muslim man for blasphemy. He was stoned to death in a fish market in broad daylight by a mob. To paraphrase the famous Niemöller quote — when they come for the muslims, you better speak out — Persecution, ABC News
The battle of the Chinese (backed) ‘Super-Apps’ in Nigeria between PalmPay and OPay: “We don’t have more than a few clients in Nigeria,” said Chen Xiaoling of Zhejiang Gold Intelligent Suspension Corp, which already sells car parts in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and South Africa. “The middle class here is not yet large but we have to prepare for one day when the market starts to mature.” — Financial Times
Amazing piece on how interconnected Nigeria’s northern elite are. The section on the Indimis is particularly head-spinning. It makes you realise that D’banj never stood a chance with Adama — Africa Report
DJ Cuppy explained to Evening Standard why she loves living in Bankside, London. But it is not all rosy though as she complained: “One of the downsides of living here is that parking is rare and it’s easy to get a ticket, especially if there’s a pink Ferrari involved!” — It is for this reason I made sure I got my Ferrari in black — Evening Standard
Police in the Philippines raided a compound that was housing people swindled into working for online cybercrime gangs. 2,700 people were rescued and there were Nigerians among them: “Workers were lured with high salary offers and ideal working conditions in Facebook advertisements but later found out the promises were a ruse, officials said” — South China Morning Post
David Ajibade and his wife arrived in Canada as refugees a few years ago. His wife, Arlyn Huilar, is from Philippines. Now the Canadian government is planning to deport them to two different countries following the failure of their asylum application — CBC (Audio version — Link)
Cameroon has banned its farmers from exporting their cocoa, cotton and other cash crops to Nigeria: “Cameroon’s ministry of trade says the ban was needed as it loses $165 million each year from the smuggling of cash crops to its northern neighbor — 60% of the total trade” — Voice of America
“Three times in the past 15 years flood waters have destroyed many of the community’s structures. Each time the community rebuilds. Many now call this the city’s “fourth incarnation” — and they expect a fourth flood, too. The municipality’s low-lying elevation — it is just 15 metres above sea level on average — makes it particularly vulnerable, and residents say they aren’t sure how much longer Okun Alfa itself will exist” — Guardian UK
Nice feature piece on Uchenna Kanu, who is going to the Women’s World Cup with Nigeria’s Super Falcons: “Her mother is her biggest fan and perhaps her funniest critic, according to Kanu. “She’s funny. I actually just told her about our game. She asked me ‘Oh how’d your game go?’ And I was trying to explain to her how it went. I didn’t score, and she’s like, ‘So what were you doing there? That was your job?’” — The Athletic
In Hong Kong, Ghana Must Go bags have a completely different and fascinating meaning: “Nigerian artist Obinna Obioma also used the checkered variety of the material as a metaphor for migration in his photography project “Anyi N’Aga”, which means “We Are Going” in Igbo” — The piece also goes on to talk about the bag’s origins in… Japan — South China Morning Post
On 1914 Reader this week, I wrote about how the business of economic reforms is never finished. Perfect excuse to share my favourite Shakespeare quote.
See you next week