Below The Headlines - 125
Primate's mosque is now open and your people are cooking in Grenada
Our read-along of How Africa Works continued with chapters 3 and 4. Chapters 5 and 6 will be out same time on Monday morning.
Enjoy the usual selection below
Nigerian Media
This story left me somewhat speechless:
Residents of Madalla, Zuma, and Chachi—communities situated along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway in Niger State—are flocking to a major road construction site to mine what they believe are precious stones.
Abuja Metro reports that the amateur miners, including children, youth, and married women, are scavenging for minerals within the gravel deposits supplied for the road project.
The residents claim to be extracting valuable minerals, which some have identified as silver or even gold.
From mechanics to miners
One of the miners, Musa Ibrahim, said he has spent the past week mining and purchasing the stones.
He intends to take the minerals to Ilesha in Osun State, a town where he has been engaged in the mineral business for years.
Similarly, Abubakar Ibrahim, a motorcycle mechanic in Madalla, has partially abandoned his trade for this newfound venture.
He told our reporter that since the discovery roughly two weeks ago, about 500 people from various communities along the highway have been participating in daily mining activities from dawn until dusk.
Our reporter found Ibrahim inside his mechanic workshop, using the same hammers he employs for repairs to extract minerals from the rocks.
He described the business as a lucrative, albeit temporary, opportunity that earns him about N15,000 daily.
“Most of the people you see mining will later sell their finds to merchants at rates between N3,000, N5,000, or more, depending on the quantity and the seller’s experience in the trade,” Ibrahim explained.
You can now get motorcycle transport for an additional 4 hours in Gombe to celebrate Ramadan. Don’t mention:
The Gombe State Police Command has announced the extension of the relaxation of motorcycle movement restrictions from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. throughout the holy month of Ramadan and beyond.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, said the decision followed “extensive security consultations” and was aimed at accommodating increased religious and social activities during and after Ramadan.
According to the statement, the adjustment “reflects the Command’s commitment to accommodating the increased religious, social, and communal activities taking place during Ramadan, as well as the period following the month when festive and community engagements remain high.”
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Umar Chuso, reassured residents of the Command’s readiness to maintain law and order despite the relaxed movement window.
“The Command remains unwavering in its commitment to maintaining peace, protecting lives and property, and ensuring that the relaxed movement window does not compromise public safety,” he said.
Update on Makoko:
Relative peace has returned to Makoko after weeks of protests by aggrieved residents following the demolition of the waterfront settlement by the Lagos State government. The area was, before now, under the grip of hostility, tension and uncertainty until the arrival of truce, thanks to a five-point agreement reached between the residents and representatives of government.
Recall that members of an ad-hoc committee set up by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, on Monday, visited Makoko for an on-the-spot assessment of the demolished area. A stakeholders meeting between the residents, the House ad hoc committee led by its chairman, Mr Noheem Adams, and the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on E-GIS and Urban Renewal, Dr Babatunde Olajide later gave birth to the agreement signed by all parties.
According to Hon. Adams who read the agreement: “Our decisions as a House after deliberations by all is that Makoko community should stop all building on the demolished properties; Makoko community should set up a 10-man committee to deliberate on the remuneration for the compensation of displaced residents; the SA on E-GIS should set a boundary on where to stop the regeneration plan; we agree that the regeneration plan, that is the water-city project, will be for Makoko; and lastly, there is no plan for the elimination of Makoko“.
Only in Nigeria will a story like this make perfect sense:
The Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, is set to commission the newly built Mosque by Nigerian prophet, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Saturday, February 21, 2026.
The mosque, which was unveiled on Saturday, February 14, 2026, was named after Madam Abibatu Mogaji, the late mother of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Madam Mogaji was the grandmother of the Iyaloja-General; therefore, commissioning the mosque would be a great honour for the President’s daughter.
During the unveiling, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo sent several Iyaloja and Babalojas to represent her due to her unavoidable absence, while promising to be physically present at the commissioning scheduled for Saturday.
Speaking on Saturday about his decision to build the Mosque and name it after President Tinubu’s mother, Primate Ayodele stated that it was a decision borne out of divine direction, adding that it also serves as a message of unity across religions.
“Building this mosque isn’t because I want attention or anything from anyone; it was a divine instruction that I cannot ignore.
“I am only answerable to God, so whatever anyone says doesn’t matter to me as long as God is pleased with me.
Useful public health intervention by the Kano State government and gives you a sense of the scale of the problem:
The Kano State Government has approved the sum of ₦99 million for the implementation of Phase I of its Anti-Rabies Control Programme in a renewed effort to strengthen public health and boost livestock development across the state.
The approval was granted under the leadership of Abba Kabir Yusuf as part of the administration’s commitment to protecting residents from preventable but deadly diseases.
The programme, which will be coordinated by the Kano State Ministry of Livestock Development, aims to vaccinate at least 10,000 dogs in the first phase.
The press release was signed by Halima Sani Gadanya, Director of Public Enlightenment at the Kano State Ministry of Livestock Development.
The Honourable Commissioner for Livestock Development, Aliyu Isah Aliyu, will oversee the exercise.
Rabies is a viral disease that affects both animals and humans and is most commonly transmitted through dog bites.
Health experts warn that once clinical symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal, making prevention through mass vaccination the most effective control strategy.
Speaking on the initiative, Dr Aliyu described the programme as a critical intervention to safeguard public health and improve animal welfare in Kano State.
He stressed the ministry’s determination to work closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure successful implementation.
Non-Nigerian Media
Wunmi Mosaku on Sinners and being nominated for an Oscar:
When Wunmi Mosaku arrived at Rada aged 18, she expected to study Shakespeare. “Instead, they gave us a year’s membership to London Zoo and sent us off to look at the animals so we could pretend to be them,” she says, still sounding perplexed more than 20 years later. “I thought, ‘What am I doing? I cannot be getting into debt for this.’ I’m from a family of academics; I want some hard facts.”
She “didn’t really enjoy” drama school. “I found it very difficult. It was my first time away from home, everyone mimicked my Manchester accent, I was the only black girl in my year and I didn’t get any parts. It felt isolating. I spent all my student loan on going home every weekend in my first year.”
Thankfully, things improved. Mosaku, 39, has just been nominated for an Oscar for her role in the refreshingly original southern gothic vampire film Sinners. Born in Nigeria and brought up in Manchester, she started her career in British TV — she played the straightforward detective Catherine Halliday in Luther and won a Bafta for her poignant performance as Damilola Taylor’s mother, Gloria, in Damilola, Our Loved Boy in 2016. She moved to Los Angeles in 2018 when she met her husband, who is African-American, and has gone back and forth for work.
Tolu Coker opened London Fashion Week:
The King appeared at London Fashion Week on Thursday, hours after the announcement of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest.
Amid applause from the audience inside — and a heavy police presence outside — the King took his seat at the British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker’s show next to Stella McCartney and the chief executive of the British Fashion Council, Laura Weir.
These front row benches are used to accommodating royalty of a sort, but this was a VIP of rather different magnitude — the King was provided with a special chair and silk cushion instead. Queen Elizabeth was the first monarch to attend a fashion week show in 2018 when she sat on the front row at Richard Quinn.
Coker, 32, was previously a recipient of funding from the Prince’s Trust. The King’s attendance was part of his focus on homegrown and sustainable craftsmanship: Coker works with remaindered deadstock fabric and low-chemical dyes.
Her autumn 2026 collection, which was rather appositely named Survivor’s Remorse, was inspired by her childhood in Notting Hill — its community, carnivals and culture. The catwalk space was decorated as a mock street scene, complete with murals, lampposts and a London Underground roundel.
And staying with Nigerian fashion:
The soundbite went viral before the full track had been released. “I’m gonna marry a Nigerian and you’re gonna wear gele to my wedding,” goes the line from Keys the Prince, a British-Nigerian rapper and producer. For the past few months, it has been used on TikTok to accompany videos of women, Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike, getting cinched into flamboyant outfits, complete with a perfectly pleated gele, or headtie.
Nigeria’s population is among the most fashion-forward in Africa. Its 230m people may spend as much as $6bn a year on apparel (mostly imports), according to one investment firm. For a long time, local styles did not travel beyond the country’s shores. But thanks to its large and growing diaspora, Nigerian fashion has lately begun to spread around the world. Pop-up events in cities such as London and Houston, the appearance of Nigerian brands in the world’s biggest department stores and the burgeoning international interest in the fashion scene in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, are all putting Nigerian styles on the map.
In one sense, Nigerian fashion has always been global. For centuries local artisans imported foreign techniques and materials and fused them with their own work. The colonial era brought British-mediated imports of silky threads used in woven fabrics like aso oke (pronounced “asho-okay”) by the Yoruba people in the south-west. Akwete, another woven fabric made by the Igbo people in the south-east, shows signs of Indian influences. The damask used in women’s headties was originally Austrian (the priciest fabric still is). Delicate lace was usually French and Swiss, or more recently Chinese and Korean. But in the past few years the direction of travel has shifted. From beadwork by southern coastal communities to adire, cotton that is resistance-dyed with cassava starch and indigo by the Yorubas, Nigerian techniques and textiles are finding new markets in unlikely corners of the world.
News reaching us from Grenada:
Citizens of the United States of America were in the first 5 positions of people who gained Grenada citizenship in the last quarter of 2025, according to data released by the Investment Migration Agency (IMA).
The data shows that 2025 was the first time since 2021 that Grenada approved less than 1,200 new citizens through the citizenship by investment programme (CBI). In 2024, there were 5,443; in 2023, there were 4,794, and in 2022, there were 1,396.
In his presentation of the 2026 budget statement, Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall said that in 2025, the IMA delivered another strong and credible performance, reaffirming the CBI Programme as a major driver of foreign investment and fiscal stability.
[…]
While citizens of the USA rank 4th, the top positions for CBI citizenship are held by citizens of Nigeria and China, with Iraq in 3rd and Pakistan in 5th.
Black Book 2 is coming. If Editi does not change it to Blackest Book, I’m not even going to watch it:
Nicholas Weinstock, the Emmy-nominated producer of Severance, is on board to produce The Black Book 2 – Old Scores, the sequel to Editi Effiong’s 2023 Nigerian revenge thriller that smashed records worldwide.
The original Black Book, made for just $1 million, hit no. 3 on Netflix‘s global charts in 2023, ranking in the top 10 in more than 69 countries and racking up more than 20 million views worldwide. It stars Richard Mofe-Damijo as Paul Edima, a former hitman and deacon, who takes revenge after his son is framed and killed by a corrupt police unit.
Weinstock’s Invention Studios is producing The Black Book 2 along with Effiong’s Anakle Films. Effiong returns as writer and director on the sequel. The feature picks up where Black Book ended, with Paul Edima continuing his assault on the corrupt system. A blurb for the film says the second installment will “delve deeper…into themes of justice, redemption, and societal unrest in contemporary Nigeria.”
“The Black Book showed us that local stories can spark global conversations,” said Effiong, in a statement. “With Old Scores, we’re not just continuing a story, we’re continuing a movement — one that affirms the power of African voices to shape cinema worldwide.”
“What Editi’s created with The Black Book is unique in its power: not just a great action film but a film franchise of extraordinary skill, ambition, and worldwide commercial appeal,” added Weinstock. “It’s a phenomenal time for African and international creators to be delivering work at the quality level of traditional Hollywood and actually beyond – and to be stunning global audiences with sheer imagination and excellence. And there’s no better example of that than Old Scores and its game-changing potential.”
A story we previously covered in BTH - 98 has now reached the extradition stage:
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 26, was extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face charges related to the sexual extortion and death of a young man in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Adewale is charged by indictment with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. He appeared in federal court in Philadelphia before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski yesterday.
Adewale was arrested in Nigeria on August 17, 2023, as part of a wider operation with the FBI to apprehend sexual extortionists targeting minors in the United States. He was extradited to the United States on Friday, February 13, 2026, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja, and the FBI, who took him into custody. The support and assistance of Nigerian security authorities was essential to this effort, notably that of Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
United States Attorney’s Office
Meanwhile, oin Australia, news of a “Trump-style” list has leaked:
The Liberal Party has proposed banning immigrants from terror-controlled regions in 13 countries, including Egypt, Palestine and the Philippines.
The proposed policy could result in up to 37 regions under the control of 15 listed terror organisations being designated.
This could include regions in Afghanistan, Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, Gaza, Somalia and Yemen.
The policy was prepared under former opposition leader Sussan Ley, shadow immigration minister Paul Scarr and shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam.
No one seems to know what it was they were mining:
A toxic gas leak at a mine in north-central Nigeria killed 37 people and led to the hospitalization of 26 others, according to police.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday in Kampani Zurak community, located in the Wase area of Plateau state, police spokesman Alfred Alabo said in a statement.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the miners were affected due to a sudden discharge of lead oxide and other associated gases like sulphur and carbon monoxide which are toxic and poisonous to humans, particularly in a confined or poorly ventilated environment,” he said. “The corpses of the deceased victims have been released to their families for burial according to their religious practices.”
The Nigerian government has closed the mining site and an investigation into the leak is underway.
The miners were unaware of the toxic nature of the emissions and continued their operations, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake said in a statement.
It’s not clear what was being mined at the site and whether the mine was operating legally. Nigeria is trying to rein in illegal gold mining operations across the country that have killed hundreds of people over the years.
From the warfront in Ukraine:
The bodies of two Nigerians fighting for Russia have been found in eastern Ukraine, the country’s authorities said Thursday.
Hamzat Kazeen Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka both served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, according to a statement from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine.
It said the deceased men signed their contracts with the Russian military in the second half of 2025 — Kolawole on Aug. 29 and Udoka on Sept. 28.
Neither man received any military training. Kolawole is survived by a wife and three children in the West African country.
The bodies were found Luhansk, an area in the Donbas region of the eastern part of Ukraine.
“Both Nigerians were killed in late November during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region. They never engaged in a firefight — the mercenaries were eliminated by a drone strike,” the intelligence organization said.
Adeleke Adelani has received an additional 9 year sentence on top of the 7 year one he was already serving:
Adelani had been due to stand trial in November 2025 but pleaded guilty before a jury was selected.
In a victim impact statement, which the woman had read to the court during proceedings, she said: “I have forgiven the defendant. The forgiveness does not mean what he did was acceptable. It means I refuse to let what he did continue to control my heart and my life.”
She added: “When he wrongfully imprisoned me and caused the termination of my nine-week pregnancy, he took far more than my freedom.
“He took my child. He took my sense of safety. He took a future that I had already begun to plan and love.”
The court was told the woman had become pregnant by Adelani in 2019 but they both decided to terminate the pregnancy.
She became pregnant again in 2020 and had decided to keep the baby, the court was told.
Adelani had invited the woman to his home in Donegal on Valentine’s Day 2020, the court heard, under the belief that he too wanted to keep the baby.
The court heard that after they spoke face-to-face, he forced her to take tablets normally prescribed by medical professionals in a controlled environment.
The court was told Adelani told her that he would beat her nine-week-old foetus out of her if she did not take the abortion tablets.
After forcing her to swallow the tablets, Adelani left to buy a pregnancy test, the court heard.
The woman, who Adelani had met on Snapchat, then phoned gardaí (Irish police) and officers arrived at the house at 14:20 on 14 February 2020.
Adelani was arrested at the scene and his phone was seized. It remained locked for four years, as he would not provide the pin.
What a collection of stories! 😀 Newly built mosque by a prophet? Or what did I just read?
Meanwhile, you might need to check the intro again. The read-along is ….
Thank you,guys!