Below The Headlines - 110
Gombe's hippos are put on notice and Swiss-Nigerians exist
This week we released our latest podcast episode with Bright Simons. We think it’s one of our best episodes so far. Go listen for yourself
I also wrote the latest in the F.O.O.D series, this time on sugar. It’s getting boring now as the story is the same. But I think I might have one more to write.
Enjoy the week’s selection below.
Nigerian Media
Man vs Hippo in Gombe and there can only be one winner if things continue like this:
The lawmaker representing Yamaltu/Deba Federal Constituency, Gombe State, Inuwa Garba, has called on the relevant Federal Government agencies to tackle the incessant attacks of hippopotamus on his constituents, which have resulted to deaths in recent times.
Garba made the plea on Thursday through a motion of urgent public importance at a plenary session presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon Benjamin Kalu.
Gombe and neighbouring Bauchi State are home to species of wildlife, including bush pigs, buffalo, elephants, and zebras, among others. However, reports of human attacks are not common.
Addressing his colleagues, the Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker noted that in recent times, “There have been recurrent and deadly attacks by hippopotamuses in several communities within Yamaltu/Deba Federal Constituency of Gombe State, particularly affecting fishermen and other farmers whose activities revolve around rivers and farmlands in the area.
“The House notes that these attacks have led to the tragic loss of lives of some fishermen and farmers, as well as the destruction of crops, thereby inflicting untold hardship on the affected families and communities whose livelihoods depend heavily on fishing and agriculture.
“The constant presence of these wild animals around rivers and farmlands in these locations has instilled fear and panic among residents, forcing many farmers and fishermen to abandon their means of livelihood, thus worsening the poverty and food insecurity situation in the constituency.”
According to him, “On October 5, a canoe was attacked and one Yahaya Bawa was killed and many others were injured.”
Dealing with waste is the most basic test of state capacity. A test that Lagos continues to fail with flying colours:
From Mile 12 to Oshodi, and across several neighborhoods, Lagos residents are groaning as foul odor, clogged drainages and heaps of festering refuse turn Nigeria’s commercial hub into a city gasping for breath. The unmistakable stench of decay now hangs heavily in the air, with waste piled up in several communities. From bustling markets to residential streets, Lagos appears to be drowning in its own filth, leaving millions of residents battling foul air and a metropolis struggling to survive its sanitation crisis.
Saturday Vanguard observed that in parts of Lagos, residents now channel their faeces directly into open drainage many of which remain stagnant for weeks. When the rains arrive, the drainage overflows, washing human waste across the streets and mixing it with floodwater. The result is a nauseating cocktail of filth that forces residents and passersby to wade through barefoot, often unaware they are trudging in water filled with faeces and a breeding ground for epidemics waiting to erupt.
This disturbing reality came to the fore recently in Festac Town, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, where a civic group, Bring Back Festac, staged a protest over what they described as the community’s gradual descent into filth.
In Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area , Oshodi, Mile 12, Iyana Ipaja and many other areas, the stench hits before the eyes can take in the scene. Heaps of refuse mount at street corners, plastics choke the drainage, and floodwater carries with it the stench of rot. For many, foul odour is no longer a nuisance but a daily torment.
Nigerian Police continue to distinguish themselves:
A student, Olawale Ayomide, has accused officers attached to the Igbeba police station in the Ijebu Ode area of Ogun State of extorting N99,000 from him.
The victim, who narrated his ordeal to PUNCH Metro on Thursday, said the incident occurred on Tuesday, adding that one of the officers forgot his official cap in his vehicle after allegedly perpetrating the act.
According to Olawale, the policemen stopped him while he was travelling in his mother’s vehicle from Sagamu to Ijebu-Ode and accused him of driving a car without a number plate.
He said that despite explaining that the car belonged to his mother, who was still processing the registration documents, the officers ignored him and insisted he should follow them to their station.
He said, “I was heading to Ijebu-Ode from Sagamu when I encountered some policemen along the road. They stopped us and asked my friend and me to step out of the vehicle. The car belongs to my mum, and she’s currently processing its documents.
[…]
However, in a twist, the duo said they later found one of the officers’ caps inside the car when they got home.
“We discovered a police cap on the back seat at home. We explained what happened to Ayomide’s mum,” Ifeanyi added.
When contacted on Thursday, Olawale’s mother, Mrs Omolabake, confirmed her ownership of the car.
She also expressed her displeasure over the development, saying she personally found the cap in the vehicle.
She said, “I saw the cap in the vehicle and asked my son where he saw it. Initially, he did not want to tell me what happened until after I persuaded him. This is not good at all. My name is on the document for the car. We are only processing the plate number. I felt bad when I was told they were recorded and asked to lie against themselves.
Underage mining in Plateau state:
“I come here to make money. I don’t go to school or learn any skill. I have been mining for over a year. I use the money to buy food, cloths and shoes for myself. I also support my father with the money I make from tin mining,” Umar Faruk, a 12-year-old boy from Mista Ali in Bassa Local Government Area, who abandoned school to make money at the mining site said. He is one of the underage miners in Plateau State.
Not giving up on education, Faruk also said, “I hope to go back to school in the future and one day become a medical doctor and help my parents and others, especially my community.”
Under the scorching sun, children gather at the sandpits of mining sites with determined looks on their faces, digging and scooping sand to extract precious mineral resources. Despite the biting sun, children who are supposed to be in classrooms were seen scooping loads of sand in an attempt to reach the hidden treasures beneath the earth.
After excavation, other children gather the sand and load it into small containers and sacks, then carry it on their heads to the waterside, where they separate the valuable treasure from ordinary sand.
It is a routine that starts as early as 7am. Children, including boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 16, were seen walking to mining sites, equipped with diggers, containers, shovels, hoes and sacks in search of tin, iron and tantalite in various villages of Bassa, Jos North, Jos South and Barkin Ladi local government areas of the state.
It’s in the Nigerian Constitution that anything that exists must have a fake version to keep the country balanced:
Abia State Harmonized Taskforce has apprehended four individuals impersonating as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) for acts of extortion, intimidation, and illegal enforcement along the Port Harcourt Road axis of Aba and its environs.
They were nabbed on Thursday at Flyover junction around Ugwunagbo area through an operation authorized by the Aba Area Coordinator of ASHTF, Mr. Uche Wogu.
A statement issued by Miracle Chukwunenye, spokesperson of the Harmonized Task Force said that the agency received multiple complaints from market women, tricycle (Keke) operators, and traders about the unlawful activities of a group led by one Mr. Ahuama.
”Upon arrival, the Taskforce, in joint effort with the police, arrested Mr. Ahuama and three accomplices who were caught extorting money from unsuspecting traders and tricycle operators under the false pretense of being NURTW officials.
“Investigations revealed that the suspects had already impounded about twenty (20) tricycles earlier that morning and collected money from the owners before being intercepted,” Chukwunenye said.
A most bizarre and tragic story:
The Nigerian Army has confirmed the death of Lieutenant Samson Haruna, who passed away on October 6, 2025, from injuries sustained in an incident involving his wife on September 22, 2025.
Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Headquarters 2 Brigade, Akwa Ibom, Captain Lawal Bala Muhammad, said in a statement yesterday that the officer suffered severe burns during the incident at his residence.
“Following the event, Lt. Haruna was immediately evacuated to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), where he received extensive medical treatment. Despite the concerted efforts of the medical team, he sadly passed away while under care. The Nigerian Army expresses its deepest condolences to the family, colleagues, and friends of the deceased officer and prays for the repose of his soul,” he said.
[…]
Reports indicate that the couple had a heated argument that allegedly escalated when Mrs Haruna poured petrol inside their apartment. The substance later ignited, engulfing the officer in flames.
He was initially treated at the Military Reference Section within the barracks before being transferred to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
In the audio clip, Mrs. Haruna claimed her husband accidentally kicked a gallon of fuel during their altercation, causing it to spill. She alleged that he had earlier threatened to set her ablaze if her parents did not come to take her home but maintained that the fire outbreak was unintentional. She also accused the late officer of subjecting her to repeated domestic abuse, claiming that one of the assaults led to a miscarriage.
Amusing story about local gaming operators fighting against foreign competition. A plague on both their houses:
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s thriving gaming industry have raised objections to the proposed Central Gaming Bill currently before the Senate, warning that its passage could wipe out over 200,000 jobs, cripple indigenous operators, and hand control of the country’s gaming economy to foreign interests.
The bill, which had earlier passed the House of Representatives, seeks to centralise gaming regulation under the federal government and introduce a Remote Gaming Licence that would allow offshore companies to offer online gaming services nationwide.
In a statement signed by the Media Relations Officer, Gaming, Adetola Ladejobi, industry experts, state regulators, and economic analysts condemned the move as unconstitutional and economically disastrous.
They insisted that the bill, if passed, would not only violate the Supreme Court’s November 2024 judgment affirming that gaming regulation lies within the jurisdiction of state governments, but also devastate one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing non-oil sectors.
“Over the past decade, indigenous gaming brands such as Bet9ja, Baba Ijebu, BetKing, Winners Golden Chance, and others have built a robust industry that employs thousands of Nigerians directly and indirectly across all 36 states. The sector supports agents, cashiers, software developers, marketers, customer service providers, and small business owners; all contributing to local economies and paying state taxes.
“According to industry data, the ecosystem sustains more than 200,000 jobs and contributes billions of naira in taxes and levies to state governments annually.”
Non-Nigerian Media
The Nigerian Modernism exhibition at the Tate in London is getting a lot of rave reviews. I plan to go see it in the next couple of weeks:
Among the artists on display are Uzo Egonu, Ladi Kwali and El Anatsui, all of whom created work before, during and after the Nigerian independence movement. The earliest works in the exhibition are from the 1940s, as Nigerians called for decolonization from England. Then, others span through the country’s independence in 1960, its civil war at the end of that decade, and its development of a national identity throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.
Several of the artists featured in the exhibition spent time outside of Nigeria, and some gained global accolades at the time, including sculptor and painter Ben Enwonwu, who studied in London and was commissioned for a sculpture of Elizabeth II in 1957.
Who is Knucks?
The blockbuster music video for Knucks’ recent single ‘Goldtooth’ sums up the vision behind the north-west London rapper’s second studio album, A Fine African Man, due for release on 31 October. Flashing with gold jewellery, decadent club scenes, glamorous women and high-speed chases – brought to life by esteemed Nigerian filmmaker Director K – the highly cinematic Bond-themed film focuses on “showing Nigeria is a beautiful place”, according to Ashley Afamefuna Nwachukwu (aka Knucks).
After being sent away from London by his parents due to bad behaviour, the rapper spent a year living with extended family members in Enugu, Nigeria, between the ages of 11 and 12. Since then, the give-and-take relationship between Knucks, now 30 years old, and his ancestral home has continued to develop. In the past, he’s touched on those connections in certain lyrics and skits like ‘Bayteze Marriage Counselling’ (which featured on his debut 2019 EP NRG 105) and ‘Enugu’ (part of 2020 follow-up London Class). But A Fine African Man – with its proud title that abbreviates to Nwachukwu’s shortened Igbo name ‘Afam’ – is dedicated to documenting that relationship in greater depth than ever.
“When I was there originally, I was a meek little boy,” he reflects, before discussing the ‘Goldtooth’ video. “But filming that video, I had a big crew working for me. There was a guy whose job was literally to show up behind me with a chair any time I was standing too long: it was a mad juxtaposition! That’s what this project symbolises: how different I’m now being seen because of all the work I’ve put in. It felt good to be somebody that people looked to like, ‘He’s representing us over there.’ I was proud to be coming back and giving work to my people.”
The story of Christians being killed in Nigeria continues to spread in America. My hunch is that this will end in some kind of negotiation over China:
The world tends not to pay much attention to the persecution of Christians, even though Christians are attacked and repressed in more countries than any other religious group. But sometimes the persecution is so extreme that it gains, at least briefly, some purchase on public attention. The steady slaughter of Christians in the West African nation of Nigeria is one such case. In recent weeks, the violence has prompted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to introduce legislation holding accountable Nigerian officials who facilitate Islamist jihadist attacks on Christians, and HBO talk-show host Bill Maher excoriated the news media and others for largely ignoring the bloody persecution of Christians.
According to a report issued in August by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), an African nongovernmental group that documents human rights violations, in the first seven months of this year alone, more than 7,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria. Christians of various denominations and moderate Muslims regularly die at the hands of Boko Haram, Fulani militants and other violent actors. Numbers vary and are difficult to verify, but between 2009 and 2023 in Nigeria, Intersociety reports at least 52,000 Christians killed, 18,500 abducted and unlikely to have survived, and more than 20,000 churches and Christian schools attacked.
Mixed in with religious motives involved in these dire statistics, of course, are conflicts over land, abductions for ransom (especially of Catholic priests), and other points of conflict. But the specifically anti-Christian targeting in the great majority of these cases defies other explanation. Yet in March, amid U.S. congressional criticism, the Nigerian government said violence in the country was “not driven by religious bias or targeted against any particular religious group.”
Though officially there is no state religion, Nigeria is a member the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, which calls itself “the collective voice of the Muslim world.” And the government does little — often seemingly nothing — to protect Christians from Islamist militants. Which is why it is puzzling that in 2021 the Biden administration removed Nigeria from the list of Countries of Particular Concern over religious liberty. The Trump administration should, at a minimum, return Nigeria to the CPC list. In July, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urged just such a move, which can carry with it significant economic and diplomatic consequences.
Jake Tapper has a new book that chronicles the life of a would-be terrorist:
In the case of a real-life villain, one might expect a fuller picture but little of Harun’s character and early life emerge in “Race Against Terror.” He grew up undocumented in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, the child of parents from Niger who traveled to the kingdom on a pilgrimage and never left.
Tapper assures us that Harun’s “desire for jihad started when he was a child,” though we see little evidence of this before adulthood, when a Saudi government employee helps orchestrate his introduction to Al Qaeda shortly before 9/11. He joins the fight against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and takes part in an ambush of a U.S. military patrol in April 2003 that kills two American servicemen and badly injures several others. That year, he asks for a global mission, and travels to Nigeria to blow up the U.S. Embassy.
Harun shows up in Nigeria with no money to bribe anyone (does he know anything about Nigeria?), no ability to locate the U.S. Embassy (it’s being moved from Lagos to Abuja), and ends up having to flee to Libya, hoping to launch plots in Europe. He’s then arrested by the Libyan police and spends the next six years in a prison being tortured (sodomized with a soda bottle) until he turns up on the ship.
Karimah Ashadu has an eyebrow raising exhibition opening:
The Nigerian British artist Karimah Ashadu was walking around the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, a few years ago when something caught her eye. The city was full of men, she noticed, riding motorcycles in surprisingly flashy outfits. The riders, illegal motorcycle-taxi operators known as “okada,” plied their trade while dressed in knockoffs of brands like Gucci, which they combined with odd accessories like blocky sunglasses.
“They were iconic,” Ashadu, 40, said recently. For her, the men were symbols of a quest for self-sufficiency that she sees as central to Nigerian identity. “These guys were so resourceful,” she said, even though they “don’t seem to have much.”
After paying off some local gang members, Ashadu — who had previously made films about workers in sawmills, abattoirs and open-air mines — persuaded the riders to perform stunts and show off their outfits for her camera. The resulting nine-minute video, “Machine Boys,” premiered at the Venice Biennale last year. It was a breakthrough moment for the artist.
The non-narrative film, which also features the motorcycle riders telling personal stories in lyrical voice-over, earned Ashadu the coveted Silver Lion for a Promising Young Artist at the prestigious event. On Friday, she will open her first institutional solo show with new work since she won the prize, at Camden Art Center in London. The exhibition looks set to cement her reputation as a major international artist and an incisive observer of contemporary Africa.
The article doesnt mention it but Noah is half-Swiss, half-Nigerian. That combination apparently exists:
He catches high balls like Israel Folau and has more TikTok followers than most British & Irish Lions players — introducing English rugby’s next star, the 19-year-old Saracens wing Noah Caluori.
Although many Gallagher Prem rugby fans may not have been aware of Caluori until last Friday night, when he scored a spectacular try on his debut away to Newcastle Red Bulls, he is already an online hit, with 23,500 followers on TikTok — more than the Test Lions Ben Earl, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Chessum and Alex Mitchell combined.
About 781,000 people have “liked” his posts in the past year — largely tryscoring or high-ball soaring reels of content, all soundtracked with rap music — and the good news is that he is not some influencer-flash-in-the-pan. Those around him think he’s the real deal.
It was Owen Farrell’s line-drive kick that Caluori legged after on Friday. He capitalised on a favourable bounce to volley the ball beyond Brett Connon, and then caught it acrobatically to go past a wrong-footed Boeta Chamberlain before finishing with a leaping dive to announce his arrival.
[…]
Do not read McCall’s bashfulness here as pouring water on the fire. The coaches at Saracens are stunned at how good Caluori is already, particularly under the high ball. One noted that he is the best player they have ever seen at catching kicks, and said he already is up there with one the great exponents of that skill, the former Australian cross-code star Folau.
Caluori did play a little basketball when he was at St Dunstan’s College in Catford, and at Mill Hill School, where he was further honed during sixth form while in the Saracens academy, but he did not need much work. It helps that he has the genetics — standing at 6ft 4in and weighing 99kg, having turned 19 on September 22 — and a skillset to perform these gravity-defying leaps.
“His aerial abilities are nuts,” Farrell added. “You just lob a kick out there somewhere and he’ll get it back for you. He can turn structured stuff into broken-field play, which is obviously what you want in attack. His skillset in the air is as good as I’ve seen anyone coming out of school.”
The view from China on the “health Silk Road”:
China is advancing its “health silk road” in Africa by initiating major offshore projects to manufacture essential medicines, such as insulin and antiretrovirals.
Nigeria is set to produce Chinese-made insulin, while in the Ivory Coast further west, Chinese giant Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical is on track to complete the first part of its three-phase €50 million (US$58 million) facility by the end of the year. The facility near Abidjan, the country’s biggest city, will manufacture antimalarial and antibacterial drugs.
Chinese firms are stepping in to fill Africa’s medicine manufacturing gaps, driven by high demand for generic medications and chronic illness treatments.
Africa, home to about 18 per cent of the global population, bears a quarter of the world’s disease burden and imports nearly all its vaccines and 70 per cent of its essential medicines, according to global health agencies.
Beijing’s ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, announced late last month that Chinese companies planned to build an insulin production plant in the country.
The facility would expand access to life-saving diabetes medication and lower treatment costs as rates of the disease surge across the continent, “potentially ending Nigeria’s reliance on imported insulin and positioning Nigeria as a hub for African medical biotechnology”, Yu said.
Feature on Obongjayar:
Obongjayar, born Steven Umoh in Lagos, was raised in southern Nigeria, by the coast, in a town called Calabar. He’s since gone global, living in London and releasing music that’s making its way all around the world. You might know him from the brilliant collaborative track with producer Fred Again, “Adore U”. Or maybe you hard his single “Gasoline” in F1: The Movie. There’s a lot more where that came from. The singer-songwriter has just released his newest album, Paradise Now, which is an unpredictable, infectious mélange of tracks and influences, not unlike the person I came to know over the course of the morning we spent together.
At 17, OB—as he’s called by those around him—moved to the UK to attend Kingston College. After that, he went to Norwich University of the Arts to study graphic design. “I didn’t finish,” he shrugs. “I dropped out my second year to pursue music. And the rest is history.”
