Below The Headlines - 34
The youths are turning to native doctorates and where do Nigerians obtain tiger teeth?
First of all, apologies are due for this newsletter going AWOL last week. A combination of a really bad flu and being in a different timezone made it impossible for it to land in your inboxes. Going forward, we will do our best to notify you in advance if the newsletter will not be arriving as scheduled.
This week, Tobi invited us to think about an underrated effect of the japa phenomenon in Nigeria, specifically the effect it might have on moderating social unrest. An intriguing thought.
Inside Nigeria
Spraying naira notes remains illegal even if everyone does it:
NIGERIAN actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin has been convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, for spraying and stepping on naira notes at a social event in Lagos State.
In a statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, February 1, the actress was first arraigned on February 13, 2023, by its Lagos Zonal Command on a two-count charge to which she pleaded not guilty.
The ICIR reported that the actress was arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Fraud Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in February 2023 along Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
Following a review of the case, the prosecution counsel applied to tender in evidence, the letter from the ICPC and other accompanying documents, including the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, forensic report of her phone, a CD of videos showing her spraying the naira notes, a flash drive from the event centre, and the statement of the center’s representative, admitted as evidence.
Every time there is a currency crisis in Nigeria, this crazy idea starts making the rounds again. So far, no one has quite gone all the way but things that have never happened before happen all the time:
There are strong indications that the Federal Government is mulling a policy that will result in the conversion of foreign currencies in domiciliary accounts of citizens to naira to stabilise the national currency, which earlier this week recorded its worst performance in history.
If it goes ahead with the plan, the government will order the conversion of foreign currencies sitting idly in individuals’ and corporate organisations’ domiciliary accounts to naira at a rate to be determined by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to top Presidency sources, the move is meant to stabilise the naira, which recorded its biggest fall in the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market on Monday, depreciating by 24 per cent to close at N1,348 per dollar.
Two unrelated stories of people taking their own lives that caught my eye. In Kano:
It was learnt that Shehu’s tragic decision to end his life was informed by the news of his ex-wife’s remarriage.
And in Benue:
Another resident of the area who also pleaded anonymity explained that the ‘old soldier’ had earlier complained of hardship as a result of falling into the hands of people who allegedly defrauded him.
But none of the family members could volunteer information to journalists on the possible reason the retired soldier took his life.
A couple of schools in Abuja have been rendered virtually unusable to students because:
“The two schools are on the verge of collapse due to the activities of scavengers, who continued to remove their infrastructures like doors, windows and even roofing sheets. There was a time the village head of the community went to the school following a distress call over such vandalisation. I joined him immediately but to our shock, we were confronted by the vandals who were in the process of removing the roofing zinc of a whole classroom block,” he said.
Claims that youths in Nigeria’s south east are now rushing into the lucrative native doctor business. But why?
Today, all that has changed as native doctors are thriving. In many communities, youths who dropped out of school and those who failed in their businesses have become native doctors to make money. It is now common to hear youths say they are learning how to become native doctors and the apprenticeship could take them as far as the South-West, India and even some countries in West and Central Africa, and could last for a couple of years. They would abscond from the community for some time, only to return in a big way and begin to live in affluence. They own exotic cars, build palatial mansions, hotels and choice property, wear designer clothes, and associate with known millionaires, politicians and other celebrities. Their lifestyle fuels suspicion that they are likely to be combining the trade with other dubious activities.
Also this:
“It will not be an exaggeration to say that more than 40 per cent of youths, both male and female, are native doctors in many Igbo communities. Some boys from these communities who were trading in Lagos returned home to become native doctors when they could no longer make ends meet.
“Surprisingly, some of them have acquired enormous wealth and we are wondering what is giving them the money. One of them was recently gifted a car by one of his clients, which means that some people believe that going to them could solve their problems. He has also built a house and recently got married to a very beautiful lady.
In the current economic climate, a hero has emerged in Benue state in the form of Tersugh Aondona AKA Aterry-baba:
In what seems as a dramatic development, a Nigerian identified as Tersugh Aondona has announced plans to marry three women on the same day in Benue.
The invite obtained by TRIBUNE ONLINE on Facebook revealed the wedding will be held on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 (today) at Lante Kukwagh Comprehensive Secondary School, Jato-Aka, Kwande Local Government Area of the State.
The invite also revealed the names of the wives to be Blessing, Nancy and Sulumshima.The celebration is to start by 6 pm till dawn.
God only knows the scale of mining that goes on in Nigeria and the damage that people are doing to the environment in the name of extracting minerals from the earth. A story from Bauchi suggests people found a sideline mining all sorts to shift away from farming that was no longer profitable. This has led to a number of deaths after mining sites collapsed:
Family members of the affected victims also shared their thoughts, saying that the current high cost of living necessitated their actions to jump into mining activities as a means of survival since the fuel price is no longer stable, which affected their business struggle for daily bread
Jonah Saraki and Mary Jonah are the parents of one of the Victims, They shared their thoughts, describing the incident as worrisome despite fetching income for the immediate family to reduce the high cost of living currently in the country
The bereaved parents said, “We cautioned some of them at the site to be on alert so that if they sense any danger, they can leave immediately.
Mining is helping us a lot because some of our people have started reaping the benefits through several means, as those who barely afford food can now do so.”
They added that “we and our children go to the mining site and dig for precious stones. Since the cost of living has shot up, we have no choice; our husbands cannot afford to foot our bills anymore, leaving us with no choice.”
Saraya Audu, a miner and mother of many children who were among those involved in the early discovery of monoxide at the mining site, narrates her experience as a mixed one.
According to her, “After discovering the mine site, our people shifted to mining immediately. I joined them last year, but while working at the site, I got fractured.
“The proceeds from mining are helping us and our family members, especially some of us who have plenty of children.”
At the mining site and separation area, operators said at least 100 people go there on a daily basis to mine different minerals, such as monoxide, zaicon, and other precious stones, for transactions with other business communities as a source of income.
I was not aware of the risks of landmines left behind by terrorists and insurgents in Nigeria’s north east:
A peaceful Saturday afternoon in Gubio, located in Borno State in North East Nigeria, was interrupted by an explosion that tragically took the lives of the town’s most vulnerable residents – its children.
At approximately 2 p.m. on Jan. 27, a devastating blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) tore through the air near a local Qur’anic school, resulting in the deaths of six pupils.
Unknown to a local metal scavenger, among the scraps he had collected was a lethal remnant of conflict – an unexploded IED.
Outside Nigeria
A concerned person writes into The Washington Post about their sister:
Hi Elaine: My sister is being conned by an online romance scammer from Nigeria, but she refuses to believe it. She has never met him or video chatted with him, yet she sends him money. I have gathered evidence on this faker, but my sister doesn't believe it.
Now this man is turning her against me for trying to get rid of him. My sister and I used to be close, but now I don’t like her anymore. She’s different but not in a good way, and she doesn’t care what I think. What should I do?
Canada is now a global hotspot in the international car theft market with about 105,000 cars stolen in 2022. And Nigeria features in the story:
Demand for used cars in African countries is surging, spurred by a growing African middle class. The continent is home to 40% of the world’s used cars, according to the United Nations. Newer models of cars such as the Honda CR-V sport-utility vehicle are sold at substantial markups to what they could fetch in Canada.
A 2020 Honda CR-V Ex with license-plate covers from Milton, Ontario, a city just outside Toronto, is being sold on the Nigerian online marketplace Jiji.ng for the equivalent of $27,000. In Canada, the same model is selling used for $19,900.
An unfinished movie from 1971 is finally released to the public:
A film of and ahead of its time, David Schickele’s “Bushman” — first shown in 1971 and featured at New Directors/New Films in 1972 but never formally released in New York — is finally opening in a pristine restoration. Its status as a half-forgotten outsider of American independent cinema makes a weird sort of sense.
It isn’t a masterpiece, but it probably couldn’t have been. The star, Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam, was arrested and deported before shooting finished, and Schickele (who died in 1999) had to adapt. Fifteen minutes before it ends, “Bushman,” having already blurred fiction and nonfiction, becomes a documentary about the real-life circumstances that led to its unraveling. “The guy that was playing the part of Gabriel — well, he ain’t here no more,” a man explains to the camera.
Until then, Okpokam, who had appeared in a previous documentary that Schickele filmed in Nigeria, has indeed played Gabriel, a Nigerian living in the hippie-radical ferment of San Francisco in 1968 — a turbulent year both domestically and in Nigeria, which was embroiled in civil war.
Nigerian food continues its relentless international march. This time, Ikoyi makes Giles Coren’s list of ‘top 10 London restaurants if money was no object’. Yes, it is now a very expensive place so I’m glad I went when it was still cheap. This is a lesson for those of you who haven’t visited places like Akara or Chishuru yet. Don’t delay:
I loved Jeremy Chan and Iré Hassan-Odukale’s crazy modern Nigerian-inspired joint right from the start because the cooking was brilliant, the vision and ambition were unlike anything London had at that time, and those two guys were just lovely. It has gone from strength to strength (despite some sniffing in the early days from Nigerian visitors about what is and is not jollof rice — a debate that I gather can be had over literally any bowl of jollof rice) and is right at the top of the London tree for genuine progressive cooking with a sense of fun. I’ve not been back since it moved location and got two Michelin stars, because I am not allowed to review things twice, and on my own dollar I just can’t afford it.
Hong Kong Customs seized some really exotic stuff the other day:
Customs officers at Hong Kong International Airport arrested two travellers and seized HK$700,000 worth of protected items such as tiger teeth, pangolin meat and live turtles in two separate cases on Friday and Saturday last week.
One of the travellers was a 50-year-old man who arrived in the city from Nigeria and planned to take a cross-boundary ferry to Shekou in mainland China on Friday.
Customs officers found 230 grams (8 ounces) of tiger teeth and 128 grams of pangolin meat in his check-in luggage. The haul had an estimated street value of HK$50,000.
Sir Michael Palin is doing a new series on Nigeria that will air on Channel 5 in the UK. Should be fun:
Sir Michael Palin is set to explore Nigeria for the first time in his new travel show.
The 80-year-old ‘Monty Python’ star has embarked on a 1,300-mile journey for his new Channel 5 series, which currently has the working title ‘Michael Palin: Into Nigeria’.
He said in a statement about the upcoming series: “Nigeria has the biggest economy, and the biggest population in Africa. The potential of the country is enormous, but so are its problems.
“Visiting the country for the first time, I saw these problems at first hand, but also caught a whiff of the excitement and energy of the place.
A graphic interactive feature on what it is like to be a queer woman in Nigeria:
With the loss of safe digital spaces, these women’s worlds have largely closed in. Many said they now only meet people vetted through their networks and on recommendation, as though part of an exclusive club.
CNN attended a “wellness party” Rafiat hosted in her home for her friends who had suffered various forms of attacks because of their sexuality. While the world around them remains hostile, here, the women were supporting each other, sharing stories of trauma but also tales of nights out as they laughed and sang Nigerian pop songs.
Despite the pain, Rafiat was hopeful, defiant even.
“I'm a Muslim. I'm gay. I like women. And I'm not ashamed to say it,” she said.
A woman who moved to the UK from Kano in Nigeria has set up a nursery in Sunderland, in England’s north east:
Mariam, 44, moved to London from Nigeria in 2008 where she studied a Masters degree in in Business Management Information Technology.
She later studied a range of Early Years qualifications before working in mainstream schools.
After opening her nursery, she now wants to promote the message that migrants and refugees arriving in England can be given a warm welcome and succeed.
She said: “There’s so much bad press at the moment about migration and refugees and I want the nursery to showcase what can be achieved.
"I was welcomed into Sunderland and the system has supported me to set up this nursery.
A man in Chicago went on a shooting spree killing 8 people before killing himself. One of his victims:
One of the people killed was found with an apparent gunshot wound Sunday outside of apartments in Will County and pronounced dead at a hospital. He was identified by the Will County Sheriff’s Office as a 28-year-old man originally from Nigeria who had been living in the U.S. for about three years.
A new shot of vitamins that can end malnutrition is being trialled across Africa:
An all-in-one nutritional supplement could be “game changing” in addressing childhood malnutrition and stunting in Africa, according to Unicef.
Millions of expectant mothers on the continent do not get enough food in and around pregnancy, resulting in their babies being born stunted, a condition that impacts both their physical and cognitive development.
But now new “multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS)” – a sort of wonder pill that contains a combination of 15 vitamins and minerals – are being trialled in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Nigeria in what experts believe could be a turning point.
“Thousands of women will soon have access to the nutrition they need to ensure healthy births and early years development,” said Samson Desie, a Nutrition Specialist at UNICEF, who is heading the rollout of a MMS programme in Rwanda. “The supplements are a game changer.”
As you know, Indian newspapers only carry one type of news about Nigerians in India. Still, the numbers here surprised me:
To make the city drug-free, the Navi Mumbai police deported 506 foreign nationals back to their home countries in 2023, with 411 of them being Nigerian nationals targeted in the crackdown, according to police sources.
In 2023, the anti-narcotics cell of Navi Mumbai conducted coordinated raids across the city to nab Nigerian nationals overstaying their visas illegally, many of whom were found to be involved in drug peddling. Since the crackdown, the police have been stringently keeping a check on Nigerians overstaying their visa period.
“Interrogating Nigerian nationals is the most difficult challenge due to language barriers and their reluctance to cooperate. Most of them do not even use mobile phones which could have otherwise helped us in conducting technical investigation. The best way to end the drug menace wherein a Nigerian national is involved, is to find them and deport them,” said a police officer from the narcotics unit in Navi Mumbai.
17 year old Nigerian kid is about to graduate from university in Canada:
What were you doing at 14 years old? Richard Nonso enrolled at the University of Windsor. Now, three years later, he’s gearing up to graduate as a computer science major
The FT reviews Davido’s concert in London last week:
Davido is one of the “big three” of Afrobeats, with Burna Boy and Wizkid. He lauds himself on his website as the first solo African singer to sell out the O2 Arena, in a 2019 show at the London venue. Actually Wizkid managed the feat in 2018, albeit as headliner of an Afrobeats festival. He and Burna Boy have since progressed to playing stadiums in the city.Competition is fierce among the Nigerian big three. David Adedeji Adeleke, to use Davido’s real name, was back at a sold-out O2 Arena at the weekend. There was a fervent atmosphere among the 20,000 present, a Sunday night crowd in a Saturday night mood: Afrobeats is a good-time music. The charged ambience extended to the main attraction. He performed as though determined to show that he hadn’t lost ground to his big-three rivals, nor a younger generation of Afrobeats up-and-comers nipping at his heels.
Anthony Madu went viral with a 44 second video dancing ballet in Lagos and then won a scholarship to a prestigious ballet school in the UK. He’s doing rather well there and is now in his 3rd year:
At the heart of Anthony’s story, however, is a Lagos ballet school of modest means that has triumphed over considerable odds.
Before he was catapulted on to the global stage and before Elmhurst, Anthony was a student at the Leap of Dance Academy.
Acutely aware of what it felt like to be barred from ballet by circumstance, Daniel Ajala opened the school in 2017 and began offering free lessons. When the doors opened, five students, Anthony among them, showed up.
Ajala had taught himself ballet at home, watching videos on YouTube, and started giving classes at after-school clubs in inner-city Lagos about 12 years ago.
“In the beginning, people kept saying, ‘What are they doing?’ ” Ajala told The New York Times in 2020.
“I had to convince them that ballet wasn’t a bad or indecent dance, but actually something that requires a lot of discipline.”
Ajala also faced opposition from the local church, which once used the school hall. When he crossed paths with the pastor, he previously told The Guardian, she would say: “ ‘Boys shouldn’t be wearing tights’, ‘the ballet is the reason why the church attendance is getting low’ — things like that.”
The school’s fortunes, however, have since been transformed by Anthony’s success.