Below The Headlines - 30
Governor Radda is the Napoleon of our time and too bad if you missed the Lagos Dog Festival
We had a quiet week on 1914 Reader so all you get it this newsletter this week.
There will be one more before the year ends and we take a break for a couple of weeks.
Enjoy!
Inside Nigeria
Ponmo is under attack again:
It is considered a taboo in some parts of the country to have a proper meal without a slice of ponmo.
However, researches have shown that ponmo may turn out to be poisonous if processed by the burning it is in tyre or plastics-generated fire as is the practice in many abattoirs across Nigeria.
The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (2012) revealed that “tyre derived fuel” (TDF) contained several heavy metals such as lead (Pd), zinc (Zn), and Copper (Cu) that could be carcinogenic when exposed to consumers over a long period.
The Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) also warned against consumption of such meat, stressing that it could contain cancer-causing chemicals from the burnt tyres.
“The more we eat those meats roasted with tyres, the more we are prone to health risks.
A story that illustrates the crazy way things get built in Lagos. Someone seems to be building a filling station in a residential neighbourhood and has been disguising it for a year:
The residents lamented that their lives and properties might be at risk if the construction of the filling station is completed.
City Round gathered that the owner of the filling station, Alhaji Umar Muhammed, had told the community that he intended to build a supermarket on the portion of land by the roadside but reports emerged that he planned to construct a filling station.
One of the residents, Fred Adanyi, explained, “He told us he wanted to build a supermarket. And then we asked him to go ahead. Shortly after, we started to hear that he had another intention other than what he told us.
“So we started making our findings. We called him, and he denied it. Then, on December 31, 2022, we learned that tanks were brought in at night and that the same tank was buried on the construction site at night. This is how we began to suspect his true motive.
New style of political ‘tackling’ just dropped:
Musa Mohammed Ali, a Kano State politician who was declared dead by his party leaders, has threatened court action.
He demanded a public apology and the withdrawal of the false death notice.
The Chairman of the Action Democratic Party, ADP, Engr. Yabagi Yusuf Sani, and the National Secretary, Victor Fingesi, are being accused of forwarding a fabricated death certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before the 2023 general elections.
Ali, who is alive and well, had been the ADP’s candidate for the House of Representatives for the Nasarawa Constituency in Kano State.
In a briefing with journalists in Abuja on Friday, the Kano-born politician stated that he has been left ‘heartbroken, devastated, and traumatized’ by the incident.
He said the death notice affected his political campaign and led to people visiting his home to pay condolences for many months.
Ali said: “I am yet to recover from this man’s inhumanity to man and the agony it inflicted on my family, which has affected my business.
With a nod to social mobility, Nigerian Army put out a statement defending a Major General accused of owning a million dollar property in the United States:
The statement read, “First and foremost, the property in question, located in the United States, was indeed acquired 12 years ago on a monthly mortgage basis, which is still being paid by Mrs Akerejola, who has lived and worked in the US for the past 19 years.
“Alluding to insinuations that the owner of the property comes from a poor background is a slap on the face of every hardworking Nigerian, who has made something positive of themselves, despite their birth circumstances.
One of the most shocking stories I’ve ever read. Click through to the full article, it gets worse:
“In divination and native medicine training, we were not taught to use human heads. I learnt it from Facebook accounts after joining the groups. They would write about things to use for rituals and I would copy and put them in writing for use. This was about three years ago.
“I started using pieces of dry human skull I got from fellow native doctors. I would grind them into powder and mix them with native black soap or to make aseje (d:d:r). We would just ask other native doctors if they had ‘ajiyo (r:r:d)’ (pieces of dry human skull) which could not be decoded by non-native doctors.
“I got two human heads from a native doctor, Ifayemi. He is currently on the run. Before I got them, another native doctor, Ifaniyi, told me that he needed them. I told Ifayemi and when he got one, he brought it and charged N50,000 for it. I gave it to Ifaniyi. That was in July this year. He brought the second one for Ifaniyi in September. He also paid another N50,000 for it. I didn’t know how Ifayemi got the heads.”
More news on education in Nigeria:
Eighteen pupils of a government-owned primary school were hospitalised after allegedly eating contaminated rice and egg meals served by officials of the state government.
It was gathered that the children, who were pupils of St. James Primary School, Owoope, Ayetori, Osogbo were rushed to different hospitals around Ayetoro on Monday.
The rice meal was served to the students by officials of vendors of the state free school meal, tagged O’Meals, during the break period in the school
Consumption of monosodium glutamate (MSG) a.k.a. Ajinomoto a.k.a. White Maggi is on the rise in Kano due to painful food inflation:
It was also gathered that a White Maggi of N100 will serve where the other food seasoning brands of N500 will serve.
Malam Usman Idris is a father of four who noted that he initially detested any food that contained MSG.
He explained that he was among the people who fought the use of MSG, but that today he was among the users of the seasoning not because he liked it, but because he had no option.
He said, “I fought the use of the seasoning. Though I am not a nutritionist or a scientist, I hated to use it. Ironically, foods made with MSG are what I have been using in my house because the nation’s current economic situation and the inflation level have gone so high beyond control. There are many people like me, that if they have their way they wouldn’t be using the seasoning.”
Governor Radda of Katsina is doing a Napoleon tribute act where he leads his men to the front of the battle:
He wrote, "After the intelligence report on the planned terrorist attack was revealed to Governor Radda around 1 pm, he immediately called off his involvement in the colourful empowerment programme of the Katsina House of Assembly Deputy Speaker.
"Mr. Governor and some few members of his entourage then joined a combined team of security personnel, comprising men of the Nigerian Police, Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji, Ground troops of the Nigerian Army, and personnel of the Community Watch Corps, to engage the terrorists at Zakka forest, before the criminals advanced to the hills.
Another day and another story of DNA tests revealing ‘shocking’ secrets about paternity in Nigeria:
The children who are 16, 12, eight, and five years old were tested after Olanrewaju discovered what he termed ‘promiscuous moves’ from his wife.
After the first child’s DNA did not match his, he decided to carry out tests on all four, which returned negative.
Crying profusely, he said, “I want Nigerians to come to my rescue because I must not suffer this in vain. I married Toyin in 2007 and she gave birth to four children. But none of the children belong to me after subjecting them to DNA tests.”
However, reacting to the development, his wife disagreed with the results, saying that she was not there when the samples were taken, adding that she also did not know which samples were taken.
She stated, “I don’t accept the result. I don’t accept it because I was not there when they took samples, and I don’t know which samples they took, so I don’t accept it.
“I can’t accept it because I know how I conceived those children.”
After a few days, Toyin made a U-turn, revealing on air that the four kids indeed were not her husband’s, adding that they belonged to her pastor.
She also stated in Yoruba that her husband only fathered one, and that the other one belonged to a meat seller at the local market.
The shock on her husband’s face was met with hot tears that trickled down his cheeks and onto his chest.
Outside Nigeria
4 healthcare workers have been jailed in the UK for abusing an 89 year old patient in their care. The Nigerian one turns out to be an ex-staff of a major Nigerian bank before she moved to the UK:
The woman, 89, was at a Wolverhampton care home, had vascular dementia and could not speak, police said.
Her family secretly installed a camera and recorded the abuse, officers said.
Ame Tunkara, Morounranti Adefila, Danny Ohen and Bridget Aideyan were all found guilty and sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
The family had noticed bruising on the woman's arm after she had been in the home for a year while she had also become nervous and was scared to be touched, detectives added.
In February 2020, the family set up the camera and recorded footage over a four-day period.
It showed the woman being handled roughly, hit with a pillow and treated with a lack of dignity and respect, West Midlands Police said.
A really good piece on the criminally underrated Adunni Oluwole who has been completely written out of Nigeria’s pre-independence history. However, the piece is written for “today’s” audience and as such gets some things about her wrong:
The country’s leading politicians had been pushing the British government to accelerate the date for independence to 1956, as well as replace the existing government with a federalist one that would divide power among the three regional legislatures.
However, Oluwole opposed the parties’ agenda, explaining her stance in a 1954 newspaper op-ed: "I am not anti-self-government when it is to the benefit of the majority of the people. The stand of my party is that self-government for Nigeria in 1956 is premature." She established the Nigerian Commoners’ Party (NCP) to promote everyday people’s interests. It also opposed some Nigerian parties’ agitation for self-government by 1956, concerned that such an acceleration would set up the new nation for failure.
Oluwole’s discontent was shaped by the nepotism, electoral fraud, and aggrandization of wealth that were already unfolding among these parties. Advancing an alternative vision, Oluwole wanted a decentralized and unitary government that would prevent regional power plays and imbalances. She advocated a political structure where local councils with greater administrative powers would coexist with a single legislature.
With power comes responsibility. Asake is now a bonafide international star and so the families of the 2 people killed at his first UK concert last year have accused him of not reaching out to them or helping with the investigation:
"He's not done nearly enough for the families. Maybe enough for himself.
"He's used Gaby's name in his speeches and concerts but he's not done anything to support the investigation.
"He has a voice, he can use it for good. He could come forward to his fans and ask for support with the appeals.
"These people had cameras and there are statements that they can give."
Meanwhile, the Police have released 13 photos of people they want to speak to regarding the crush at the Asake concert:
Scotland Yard has released the images of the men they would like to identify as part of their investigation into the crush at a gig by Nigerian singer songwriter Asake a year ago.
In a statement, Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney said: “We remain focused on establishing exactly what happened that tragic evening, how Rebecca and Gaby came to lose their lives and why a young woman remains in hospital in a very serious condition a year later.
A most excellent week for Nigerian football:
Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala secured the 2023 African footballer of the year accolades at the annual Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco.
Napoli striker Osimhen beat Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi to the men’s award while Barcelona’s Oshoala picked up the women’s prize.
For the men’s award, it is the first time a Nigerian has been awarded the title since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999. Oshoala, meanwhile, retained the women’s accolade – the sixth time she has won it.
A new Agatha Christie murder mystery begins on BBC on December 27 in the UK. It has an interesting plot:
I am surprised. It is July and I am watching the shooting of a scene from the BBC’s latest murder mystery. The leads are in the drawing room of an English manor house, their conversation growing increasingly heated, when suddenly one of the dinner-jacketed guests drops to the floor, spilling his wine glass (the red wine stain on the carpet will be added later, digitally). But that is not the surprise. The surprise is that while the vicar, the local business magnate and his fiancée are white, also in the room are an Indian woman, her mixed-raced daughter and a stylish young black Nigerian played by the charismatic David Jonsson. So why, in 2023, am I surprised? Because this is meant to be rural England in 1954 and the show being filmed is Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy.
Another week and another batch of Nigerians deported from Libya:
General Mohamad Bardaa, who heads the country’s anti-immigration body affiliated to the interior ministry, said 300 Nigerians were taken to the airport to be flown home.
Section on Nigeria in a piece about the resurgence of London post-Pandemic:
You can still eat knockout jollof rice at Lolak Afrique, a café just off Peckham’s main drag. But the neighbourhood, and London’s Nigerian community, are changing. As cocktail bars and sushi restaurants have moved in, the Nigerians have spread out, their numbers falling in Southwark, the borough which includes Peckham, and rising elsewhere. London has never been as ethnically segregated as some American cities; as analysis by Gemma Catney of Queen’s University Belfast shows, it has become progressively less so over the past few decades, the black African population dispersing especially fast.
As it spreads, London’s Nigerian population is growing. In the past couple of years post-Brexit immigration policies have admitted many more students and workers (largely in health care) from beyond Europe. In the year to June 2023, 141,000 Nigerians moved to Britain, more than the total from the entire eu, to which there is now net emigration.
Is aso ebi becoming a burden? To quote the Nigerian philosopher in that viral video - any money way I get, na enjoyment:
Despite the popularity of aso ebi, my study found that it is causing some distress.
I administered questionnaires to 270 Yoruba adults (135 men and 135 women) in Osun and Oyo states in south-western Nigeria, asking them about the challenges and merits of wearing aso ebi. Participants indicated whether they experienced any of a list of challenges such as cost, competition and issues of personal taste. The list of potential merits included boosting camaraderie and collective sense of purpose, and benefits to the producers of the uniforms.
The results showed that the main problem with aso ebi was the financial burden of having to buy the fabrics continuously. This stems from being obliged to attend social events and the tendency for reciprocity: “I bought your aso ebi, buy mine.” People end up with a large stock of fabrics and are limited in their ability to buy, store and wear their own clothes.
Pictures and a video from the Lagos Dog Festival:
Jackie Idimogu, chief organiser of the Lagos Dog Festival, said this year's event sought to foster national unity after a disputed presidential election in February exposed Nigeria's tribal faultlines as voting was largely along ethnic lines.
A British man who says he spent £50,000 on a surrogacy arrangement for twins in Nigeria is now stuck in the country and can’t leave with the kids. His Nigerian visa also expired since July:
Steven Scott, 38, became a dad to Kai and Luca on June 19, but fears being left penniless in his battle to return home.
He said that he has now been in Nigeria for six months but, despite claiming that his surrogacy agency said it would look after his Visa and accommodation, this has not materialised.
Now desperate to come back to the UK safely with his twins, Steven has pleaded for help from the authorities, as well as from his MP, Dr James Davies.
It seems as if a college in New Brunswick, Canada, came up with a ruse to reduce the number of Nigerian students it had already planned to admit:
Adebayo Ogunleye's phone has been ringing off the hook almost daily for three months.
As president of the Nigerian-Canadian Association of New Brunswick, he's getting messages from concerned Nigerian international students applying to the New Brunswick Community College.
A deadline change for international students to submit immigration documents to NBCC — after they were already accepted — led to the college cancelling their admission.
Additionally, the college has stopped accepting applications from students from Nigeria and Ghana for the 2024-2025 school year.
"Definitely the trust is broken," said Ogunleye, whose list of impacted students has reached about 40.
Scientists have come up with a new way to track the origins of pangolins as part of the international fight to crackdown on their smuggling and trade:
An international team of scientists say they have developed a new method to identify the origin of pangolin scales, adding to the toolkit for cracking down on the poaching and trafficking of the endangered animal, which is prized in China.
The researchers found that poaching activity shifted from West to Central Africa from 2012 to 2018 as the Asian pangolin population shrank, with Cameroon’s southern border emerging as a poaching hotspot.
The team said the shift could be a response to increased enforcement, declining pangolin populations in West Africa or convenient new trade routes.
They also identified Nigeria as the highest-volume transit hub in Africa, where traffickers gather pangolin scales and then ship them overseas, according to maps of African pangolin seizures.
Nigerian woman caught trafficking drugs in India (remember this is the only kind of news you will find about Nigerians in most Indian newspapers):
After she was frisked, the AIU sleuths seized a stash containing 20 capsules purported to be heroin and hidden in her brassier, the official said.
During the probe, the accused, identified as Victoria Okafor, admitted she was carrying drugs, he said.