Below The Headlines - 64
The Miracle Economy is booming inspite of T-Pain and Brazilian Mafia and Nigerian linkup
Hope you all had a good week. It’s getting a bit cold out here but if you are reading this somewhere with warm weather all year round, we are happy for you. Maybe.
Enjoy this week’s selection
Inside Nigeria
We continue to monitor the impact of the ‘T-Pain Economy’:
Mrs. Gladys Asaga, a caterer, said: “Many event hosts request for 200 food packs of takeaways in styrofoam or plastic packs.
“But recently, many now started ordering food to be packed in box cartons and small quantities.
“Some will even customize the box cartons and send them to me to serve their guests with such.
“When I looked deep into the matter I saw they were only trying to cut costs.“Even the plastic is now very expensive and takes lots of food.
“But the box cartons are usually small and can only take one and half portions of whatever food they request.
“The cost of a bag of rice has risen to almost N100,000 and that of beans is even worse.
“Then vegetable oil, and dairy products like meat, and chicken are very expensive.
What does one say to this?
Soldiers attached to the Ojo Cantonment Barracks led by a yet-to-be-identified colleague, who was accosted for driving against the traffic around Volks Bus Stop, along the Ojo Iyana Iba Road area of Lagos State have stabbed a policeman, Saka Ganiyu, to death.
PUNCH Online gathered that the soldier, who was not wearing his uniform, while driving an unregistered T4 Volkswagen commercial bus against the traffic, was stopped by policemen on enforcement duty at Volks Bus Stop.
Angered by the action of the policemen, it was learnt that an altercation ensued and the soldier contacted some of his colleagues, who reportedly trooped out of the Ojo Cantonment Barracks and attacked the policemen.
What life is like for the kids who wash cars on the highways in Lagos:
Nwachukwu Stephen is 17 years old. He said he engages in the job to support his family and that his daily income ranges between N5000 and N7000.
“I am doing this work because of insufficient funds at home. My father works with a transportation company while my mother sells food items in the market. What they make is not enough for the family. So, I do this work to support the home,” he said.
Stephen, a senior secondary school student at Egan Senior Grammar School, said he started washing cars when he was 15-years-old, adding that he was influenced by one of his friends.
“I started this job two years ago when I saw one of my friends doing it. I make between 5,000 and N7,000 daily, depending on the number of vehicles I am able to clean,” he said.
Although Stephen is unclear about what he wants to become in the future, he told Weekend Trust that he is hopeful of a better tomorrow.
Faud Mohammed, also 17-years of age, began washing cars five months ago.
“I started washing cars on the road in March this year. Nobody introduced me to it,” he said.
Mohammed, a senior secondary school student, who attends a public school at Mosholashi, Alaguntan in Alimosho Local Government Area, said he went into the business without the knowledge of his parents, adding that the amount of money they make is not only dependent on the kind of cars they clean, but also the willingness of the owners/ drivers to appreciate the effort.
He said on the average, he takes home N2000 daily, adding that his daily expenditure is less than N500. He said he pays N10 for a bucket of water and that the detergent cost less than N200.
A local government chairman spoke to the Defence Minister recently:
He said: “Bandits have taken over parts of my local government area and act as traditional rulers, and judges. Sir, they have become authority of their own. They even mediate and settle disputes communities.
“It’s very painful, sir, that we have no control or authority over our people in that axis, including my village Kamarawa.
“Bello Turji, Dan Bokolo, Garso and many bandits kingpin are moving freely and exercising their powers over our people without challenge.
“Honorable Minister sir, part of my council area have become a safe heaven for bandits and other criminal gangs. Please, come to our aid. We are in dire in need of your support to free our people.
“Our communities are in shackles. They need to be free; to have a sense of belonging that they are Nigerians.
“They tax, and collect levy from, the communities at will,” stated the council chairman.
Even water pipes are not safe:
The anti-vandal squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Niger State Command has intercepted a truck loaded with used water pipes, while on patrol to Lambata in Gurara Local Government Area, along Paiko in Paikoro local government area of the state.
The truck was said to have taken off from Zamfara, heading to Minna, the Niger State capital.
Parading the Truck driver alongside the other three occupants of the Truck before the Newsmen on Monday at the State Headquarters of the NSCDC, in Minna, was the Commandant NSCDC, Niger State Command, Adamu Abdullahi Kambra.
Kambra stated that the Command had launched a preliminary investigation which revealed that the truck traveling from Zamfara State lacked necessary documents, adding that the used water pipes belongs to Zamfara State Water Board, emphasising that the incident undermines government effort to provide amenities and improve the livelihood of citizens.
News from Benue State:
Armed robbers who waylaid 13 Bishops of Brotherhood of the Cross and Star on Episcopal tour of some states of Nigeria pleaded for prayers for them not to be caught.
The incident happened Wednesday evening on a federal highway in Benue State enroute Abuja, according to leader of the team, Archbishop Benjamin Ogwutum.
Narrating the experience to journalists, the clergyman explained that they needed to spend the night in Abuja, which reason they decided to drive through the evening.
“As we left North Bank area of Benue State, we came in contact with men who initially looked like Fulani Herdsmen. They were on operation right on the highway.
“They stopped the vehicle we travelled in. Terrified, we called on the name of the Father… On hearing that, one amongst them, more like their leader, came and said .. ‘oh free them they are people of God. We have no business with you.’
“The same man turned to us confessed that they were armed robbers but that they need our prayers.”
Things are happening:
The Nigerian Army has detained Brigadier General Musa A. Sadiq, a former commander of the 3 Brigade in Kano, for reportedly stealing commodities that include bags of rice and a heavy-duty generator.
Sadiq was said to have diverted rice palliatives that were meant for soldiers under his command from the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja.
The Defence Headquarters had distributed rice on at least three occasions to army brigades nationwide for onward distribution to Nigerian soldiers.
Boko Haram alumni staged a protest in Borno. The T-Pain Economy comes for all:
Former members of the Boko Haram terror group, who had previously surrendered to the Nigerian state, staged a protest on Thursday morning over welfare issues, briefly causing chaos along the Maiduguri-Kano road in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital in northeastern Nigeria.
The protest began around 9 a.m. and lasted for about an hour, with protesters throwing stones at passing vehicles and blocking the highway, locals say.
HumAngle learned from a member of Hajj Camp management, who requested anonymity that the protest was triggered by a one-day delay in the monthly food supplies to the repentant members. “Normally, food supplies are distributed on the 7th or 8th day of every month. However, there was a one-day delay, leading them to march to the street for protest,” the source explained.
Eyewitnesses interviewed by HumAngle revealed that the protesters, residing in a rehabilitation facility at the Hajj Camp, blocked the road in frustration over the government’s failure to disburse their allowances.
The Guardian attempts an insight into the Miracle Economy in Nigeria. It appears to be quite resilient and countercyclical:
Adebukola has been visiting a Christian centre in Warri, Delta State, in the last five years for a solution to her inability to conceive after a decade of marriage.
And within the last five years, she has visited the centre at least once in two months from Lagos, but no solution yet. This is aside spiritual exercises she was made to undergo every time she visited that included washing of feet at N100,000.
She was also made to buy church branded oil, soap, as well as ‘I must carry my Samuel’ t-shirt and blanket, at a price, that is, sometimes, about 500 to 1000 per cent higher to a similar item in the open market.
For instance, a bottle of 25cl miracle water is sold for N3000 when a 75cl bottle of water is sold for N200 in the open market.
Everything sold within the church premises are special including the fruits, for those seeking solutions to one ailment or the other, though there is no difference in terms of quality of the merchandise except for the church branding them to make them look sacred.
Although Adebukola has not given up on getting pregnant through the centre in Warri but many Nigerians, who have patronised such religious centres and bought their items often do not get disenchanted after trying out those with no result.
Outside Nigeria
Man vs Hippo in Kebbi:
Residents of a town in north-western Nigeria are celebrating after a rare but feared hippo - along with its calf - was killed by rice farmers and fishermen in a hunt lasting several weeks.
People in Yauri, in Kebbi state, have been terrified of the hippo after she killed a fisherman who worked for the local traditional leader.
It prompted the Kebbi state government to order that the animal be killed for the safety of the community living along the River Niger.
Nigeria’s hippo population has declined rapidly over the last few decades - estimates suggest there are now around 100 animals, which mainly live in conservation areas.
The hippo in Yauri was tracked down by young men, who used locally made spears known as a “zagos” to kill it.
Its carcass has since been ferried in a canoe to the palace of one of the Emir of Yauri's high-ranking administrators, where it has been butchered and its meat given to those in local community.
University of Miami basketball team has a new player:
The University of Miami men’s basketball program got big news on Thursday morning. Very big news. Four-star center Ben Ahmed, listed at 6-9 and 300 pounds, committed to the Hurricanes over other finalists Cincinnati and Xavier.
Ahmed, a native of Nigeria who has been at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut the past two and a half years, announced his decision on 247Sports’ YouTube channel.
He is rated the No. 11 center in the Class of 2025, according to 247 and the 78th player overall.
Dr. Aisha Akilu will see you now:
A Nigerian doctor is on a mission to help lessen the burden sickle cell disease has on her home country.
And it has led her to Memphis and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Dr. Aisha Galadanci Akilu, a hematologist focusing on sickle cell disease, is in the process of earning a PhD in health outcomes and policy research at UTHSC. She started the program this fall. Prior to starting that program, she has already made a difference in her hometown of Kano, Nigeria.
In collaboration, and with funding from, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Galadanci Akilu helped implement a newborn screening program for the disease in Kano and more than 9,000 children have been screened.
Another list of Nigerian restaurants in London. Important to note that you won’t have been able to find stuff like in mainstream media 10 years ago. The normalisation of Nigerian food in this way is a remarkable achievement that all who made it possible should be very proud of:
From the edge of the A406 to the heart of central London and all over the city, restaurants, stalls, and takeaways proudly fly the green and white flag. London’s flourishing Nigerian community and the diversity of the West African country’s rich, vibrant culture shines through in the city’s dazzling and rapidly evolving food scene. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all Nigerian experience—it’s a vivid mix of tribes, languages, and traditions which shows in the food. Whether you're after some spicy jollof or a comforting bowl of seafood-loaded soup in a cosy cafe, there’s something for everyone.
News from Denmark:
A Nigerian pirate who lost his leg in a shoot-out with Denmark’s navy will have his new prosthesis funded by the taxpayer as part of a special residential deal granted by the government.
Lucky Frances, who lost a gunfight with the Danish navy in 2021, will receive an education plan, guidance on employment and an “integration contract” to ensure that he becomes a productive member of society.
The Right-wing Danish People’s Party (DF) said the decision mocked the country’s migration and security policy.
Mikkel Bjorn, the DF’s integration spokesman, said: “This is absolutely absurd. That man should never have been in Denmark and to imagine that he can now be meaningfully integrated in Denmark is completely beyond the pale.”
Frances’ run-in with the navy has gripped Denmark since 2021 when he was severely wounded in a firefight with the Danish frigate Esbern Snare in the Gulf of Guinea.
Four of his fellow pirates were killed in the confrontation, but Frances himself received medical treatment, including the amputation of his bullet-riddled leg. Three other survivors were set free by the Danish navy.
As a result of his severe injuries, Frances was brought back to Denmark, where he recovered before being found guilty of endangering Danish lives. Nonetheless, he was spared jail and later claimed asylum in Denmark.
Meet 20 year old Afolabi Fasogbon:
He seems to have the right genes — and mindset — for his chosen career path. At 6ft 4in and weighing just shy of 21st, he can barely fit in the seats in the stands at Kingsholm. His height comes from his father, Bobby, who is 6ft 1in, and his 6ft mother Olubunmi, who works in a north London hospital.
It was between sixth form at The Bishop Wand School in Sunbury and joining the London Irish academy, Fasogbon focused on sculpting his body in the gym.
Now at Gloucester he can dead-lift more than double his body weight, 350kg (55st), and can squat 220kg (34st 9lb), which is just shy of the club’s biggest lifter, the 31-year-old Jamal Ford-Robinson. Fasogbon knows it is not all about power and strength, but technique too.
“My squat won’t be good if my core strength or my back isn’t strong,” Fasogbon says. “It’s the same thing with the scrum. It’s not necessarily just about how much weight your legs can put up, it’s about how much your back or core can tolerate before it starts flexing.
“That all goes hand in hand perfectly with the scrum. It gives me a solid platform, for when I’m in a good shape, to be able to push or hold.”
Fasogbon’s parents grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and he and his two siblings were far keener on football, and Manchester United, growing up. He fancied himself as a central attacking midfielder but then pivoted to rugby at 13.
What concerns Brazil’s biggest Mafia with Nigeria or Nigerians?
An unchecked expansion of the P.C.C. would be destabilizing for Brazil and large parts of the world. Members of the organization now control prisons in Paraguay, own land in Bolivia, manage coca plantations in Peru and run guns through Uruguay. European port cities including Rotterdam and Amsterdam, flooded with South American cocaine, have been contending with drug-related violence. Amsterdam’s mayor has even publicly warned that the Netherlands, a destination for much P.C.C.-trafficked cocaine, risks becoming a narco-state. In 2020, a top Brazilian drug trafficker who worked with the P.C.C. was arrested alongside two Nigerian associates in Mozambique, a sign of the crime organization’s growing ties to Africa. Between 2023 and 2024, people linked to the P.C.C. have been apprehended and had assets frozen in the United States.
Who is Soldier?
We're in the Hublot boutique on New Bond Street where Soldier – born Leonard Iheagwam – is showcasing his “Champions” painting series as part of Frieze London art fair. It's a gig that's prompted him to reflect on his progress. “I'm glad to be able to do something for Frieze – this is Fashion Week for someone like me. If you had told me last year that I'd be doing something like this, I may not have believed you.”
The 23-year-old has been living off of his art – as well as the profits made from Motherlan, the streetwear label he co-founded with his school and skateboarding friends Olaolu Slawn and Onyedi Iriele – since the age of 16 when he ran away from his family home in Lagos. It was then that Iheagwam assumed the moniker Soldier – a name derived from his heavy application of camouflage which sparked controversy with the Nigerian military (for context, the unauthorised use of military camouflage is illegal in the west African country). Three years later, a scholarship at the University of Westminster to study graphic design and communication brought him here to paint, and sculpt, and consult and model.
It is, in his own words, a “grass to grace” story.
During the last twelve months, Soldier's career has swung beyond expectations. In April, he put on his first solo exhibition at Incubator on Chiltern Street. He's recently collaborated with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Supreme, Nike and Timberland. And now, Hublot.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints a.k.a Mormons, are building new Temples around the world:
Francis Nmeribe and his wife Ada Uche Kalu Nmeribe, former mission leaders of the Nigeria Enugu Mission, were watching general conference on Sunday afternoon from their home in Provo, Utah.
As President Russell M. Nelson started speaking, Nmeribe said he and his wife had an instinct to draw closer to listen.
“Yes, we wanted to hear the prophet,” said Nmeribe. “But, deep in our hopes, was (to) hear the announcement of new temples with Abuja Nigeria Temple as one of them.” When the couple was serving as mission leaders, Abuja was part of their area. He said they had an early impression the area needed a temple when they started serving.
When President Nelson announced the Abuja Nigeria Temple as one of the 17 new temples The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will build, Nmeribe said it was “an answer to the prayer of the saints in that part of Nigeria.”
“We both jumped, crashing into each other and shouted ‘Alleluyah,’” said Nmeribe of him and his wife Ada.
Joy Eseoghene Odiete is doing God’s work:
Having a baby should have been the icing on the cake for Joy Eseoghene Odiete, a musician whose hit song Kuchi Kuchi was an anthem to love known across Nigeria, while her appearance on Idols West Africa had brought her a TV audience.
But her little boy was born with lissencephaly (a rare brain disorder) and cerebral palsy.
“My marriage fell apart three months later. My friends abandoned me. I was dealing with a heartbreak and my son’s health. I was so depressed and frustrated that I shaved my head completely,” says Odiete, known as Jodie.
“The doctors said my child might not live beyond two years. They said the condition had no cure and no surgery could fix it. I had to numb myself to that reality by quitting music and getting a nine-to-five job for one year to distract myself. I would often cry on my way to work in the long Lagos traffic.”
When Odiete shared images online of herself singing with her son Chinua she experienced trolling and abuse. “I’d post my baby, and people would ask what was wrong with him. Some even accused me of trying to abort him, which wasn’t true. But sharing made me feel better, so I continued. I didn’t want to hide him for ever. This is the world he’s come into, and I want people to accept him for who he is.”
That drive led her to set up the Chinua Children Care Foundation to support other families with children with special needs, and to advocate for an education and welfare system for those children.
In Florida there is a Nigerian angle to the impact of Hurricane Milton:
Some advocates told The Associated Press Wednesday that immigrants fear that if they went to a shelter they could be deported. They have the same fear if they request food or sandbags to protect their houses, even when authorities and the same advocates say that they will not ask for any identification.
They also fear that if they evacuate and move to another state, they will not be able to come back because of the Florida law imposing penalties for transporting immigrants without legal authorization.
"There is a lot of fear of deportation or worse that people live daily so these fears are highlighted in times of disasters when vulnerability is increased," said Dominique O´Connor, a climate-justice organizer at the Farmworker Association of Florida.
O´Connor said that some shelters and sites that provide sandbags are asking for a form of identification, and there are some well-meaning military personnel or police officers giving out water, which is "very intimidating" for immigrants.
Agencies that work with the federal government to settle refugees placed about 200 families from Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Nigeria and other African countries in the Tampa area. It has been almost impossible for them to find information without the help of someone to translate it into French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Arabic or another of the languages the refugees speak.
Mirin Fader has written a 400 page book about the life Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon. WSJ has a review:
In Ms. Fader’s telling, there has rarely been an athlete so dedicated to Islam as Olajuwon. Because of the strictures of his faith, Olajuwon poured the celebratory champagne from his Houston Rockets 1994 and 1995 championships down the drain and ordered that platinum replace gold in his championship rings. (“Islam prohibits wearing gold,” Ms. Fader explains.) He has been studying Arabic for years so he can read the Quran in its original language. Ms. Fader leans into these details heavily, writing that Olajuwon “inspired generations of Muslim people to embrace Islam, to build connection and community in the spirit of generosity and grace.”
The book is not all about his religion, of course, and captures the essence of a superstar who crept up on the American sports consciousness. Olajuwon was more than a decade ahead of the parade of international players that transformed the NBA into a global game, but that’s only partly what made him a curiosity piece, a stranger in a strange land. For the press and public, Africa was (and is) enigmatic. Ms. Fader quotes the Nigerian writer Dipo Faloyin saying that, in the West, the African continent is “treated as a buzzword for poverty, strife, corruption . . . one big safari park.” A child of the middle class, Olajuwon complained about people thinking that as a boy he was “naked in the jungle and swinging in the trees.”