Below The Headlines - 67
A new type of round tripping involving ice blocks and Shola Balogun regrets biting
Welcome to November. It’s getting cold here but if you’re in a place that remains very warm, please keep it to yourself.
Our 3rd read-along of Capitalism in the Colonies featured JPL Davies and the end of a ‘golden era’ before the advent of muscular colonialism. Tobi and I also experimented with our first 1914 Podcast. Yes, there are too many podcasts out there already so we thought it made sense to dive into this crowded field.
Enjoy this week’s selection below!
Inside Nigeria
Nigerian Police want you to congratulate them for this amazing discovery:
The Nigeria Police may have opted to implement the videotaping of confessions in response to the increasing number of criminal suspects retracting their confessional statements made during interrogations with law enforcement officers, PUNCH Metro reports.
A police wireless message was circulated by a self-identified investigative journalist on X.com known as @PIDOMNIGERIA on Wednesday directing police operatives to utilise video recording when obtaining confessional statements.
The wireless message bearing reference number AR:4280/BRS/X/VOL.3/208 partly read, “Confessional statement; be informed that the Supreme Court had that it is mandatory for police officers to video record suspects while making confessional statements.
“The police can use cell phones to record and later transfer it to a compact disc and attach it to the case file for prosecution.
“Alternatively, the police should stop restraining suspects’ lawyers from being present when suspects are making statements, as the law says. A suspect should make a statement in the presence of his lawyer or anyone related to him. The lawyer or relatives of the suspect who witnessed the statement must sign and write his name as a witness at the bottom of the statement.”
Meanwhile back to back hits from the Police:
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has stated that the fainting of six suspects in court before their arraignment was a deliberate act, scripted to attract negative attention.
Egbetokun stressed, however, that medical assistance was promptly provided, underscoring the police’s commitment to the welfare of individuals in their custody.
On Friday, 76 suspects, mostly minors who appeared malnourished, were arraigned in connection with the #EndBadGovernance protest. Six of them collapsed and were rushed out of the courtroom.
Following their arraignment, the court granted each minor bail set at N10 million. The incident has sparked criticism both domestically and internationally.
In a statement dated November 1 but obtained by our correspondent on Saturday, signed by Force Spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi on behalf of the IGP, Egbetokun affirmed that, under Nigerian law, individuals who have reached the age of criminal responsibility are accountable for their actions, regardless of their age.
He said, “Today, an unexpected incident in court saw six of the suspects suddenly rush out and faint, drawing media attention in a deliberate and scripted manner to attract negative attention.
“Medical aid was promptly provided to these individuals, demonstrating the Police Force’s commitment to the welfare of those in its custody, irrespective of the allegations they face.
The power outage in Northern Nigeria has forced many to buy ice blocks from Niger Republic which Nigeria supplies electricity to:
On October 22, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported a power outage across the North-east, North-west, and parts of North-central Nigeria, after the 330-kilovolt Ugwuaji–Apir transmission lines tripped. Two days later, TCN identified a snapped 330kV transmission line in the swampy forest of Igumale, Benue State, which further worsened the blackout. Before then, the TCN had reported that the Shiroro-Kaduna line had been vandalised, cutting off electricity supply to major northern cities like Kaduna and Kano. Though power was restored to some parts of the North on October 30, which was the ninth day of the outage, many Kano residents continue to grapple with lack of electricity.
For many years, residents have come to depend on ice blocks to not only chill their drinks, but to preserve food and get refreshed amid the sunny weather. But the prolonged power outage led to scarcity of ice blocks, forcing many sellers in the northwestern state to find alternative supply chains in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory and Niger Republic, which shares a border with the northern part of the country.
Nigeria supplies 24 hours electricity to Niger Republic, Togo, and Benin Republic through strategic bilateral agreements, the Managing Director and CEO of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sule Abdulaziz had disclosed last month. Weekend Trust reports that about 70 per cent of Niger’s electricity typically comes from Nigeria, with Mainstream-NIGELEC; the Nigerian electricity company serving as the primary electric power utility.
This is why some ice block traders said they had been relying on supply from the neighbouring country due to its close proximity to Kano State. While some of the ice block dealers said they got supply from Abuja, approximately 429.6 km away, others said although irregular, they sometimes sourced ice blocks from Niger Republic which is closer to Kano State than Abuja.
A truly crazy story that I’m yet to properly understand:
At least five people have died from suspected food poisoning in Afashio Community, Uzairue, Etsako Local Government Area, Edo State.
The incident, which reportedly occurred last week, left the community in shock as it claimed the lives of five young individuals, including four boys and one girl.
Sources say the victims were allegedly poisoned by a former girlfriend of one of the boys, who is accused of preparing a pepper soup dish and bringing it to her ex-boyfriend.
A very terrible crime. LASTMA are the only ones allowed to extort motorists:
A suspect, Mr. Adewunmi Taiwo, 45, arrested by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, for impersonating an officer of the agency has confessed how he made at least N750,000 in a month from unsuspecting motorists caught over traffic offences.
The suspect, who was arrested on Oshodi Bridge in a sting operation, has since been detained for further action.
Taiwo had been posing as a LASTMA officer to intimidate and extort funds from both commercial and private motorists in the vicinity.
Commenting on the Addressing the incident, LASTMA General Manager Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, confirmed that the suspect had been operating a white Hiace Coaster Bus with the registration number KJA 724 YJ, utilizing it as a guise to harass drivers in the area.
Bakare-Oki, explained that, “Upon a meticulous search of his vehicle, LASTMA officers uncovered an official LASTMA uniform, including a branded raincoat, among his possessions, confirming his intentions to deceive.
“During interrogation, Mr. Taiwo, who claimed to hail from Ilesha in Osun State and is married with three children, confessed to misusing the uniform to extort unwitting motorists, targeting high-traffic routes along Ikorodu Road and the Oshodi to Mile-2 Expressway.
“He further admitted to generating between N15,000 and N25,000 daily from these unauthorized activities.
FIRS is recruiting and I could not help but marvel at the fact that they put an age limit on applicants:
The FIRS, on its official account on Friday, announced that it is inviting interested candidates to apply for officer II and officer I positions in eight states, including Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Ekiti, Lagos, and Oyo.
According to the service, eligible candidates must be 27 years old or below by December 31, 2024, and must have completed the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme by no later than December 31, 2021.
Very sorry to report that Bianca Ojukwu’s Senate confirmation hearing went exactly as expected:
Senate President Godswill Akpabio cautioned Senator Osita Ngwu for praising the beauty of Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu during a ministerial screening on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
Bianca, like six other ministerial nominees screened by the Senate, read her credentials before the red chamber and was subsequently quizzed by the lawmakers. She was screened for the post of Minister of State Foreign Affairs.
When Akpabio opened the floor for questions, Ngwu, who currently serves as the Senator representing Enugu West District in the 10th National Assembly, started by applauding Bianca’s beauty to which he attracted a rebuke.
“Mr President, the beautiful nominee standing before us,” the lawmaker said.
“Restrict yourself to the resume. Forget this word beautiful,” Akpabio interjected jocularly. “She didn’t put in the CV that she is beautiful.”
Hisbah have put an end to the menace of Bala Muhammad in Bauchi:
The Bauchi State Sharia Police, Hisbah, has invited a 60-year-old man, Bala Muhammad, for questioning after he posted photos on social media featuring women he allegedly had affairs with.
DAILY POST reports that Muhammad appeared in nearly 30 photos with various women, many of whom were middle-aged and dressed in revealing outfits.
The images have stirred reactions on social media, with some users advising married men in Bauchi to guard their wives from Bala Muhammad who appeared to be a ‘chronic womanizer’.
But in a phone interview with our reporter on Friday, the Public Relations Officer of the State Hisbah, Muhammad Muhammad Bununu, confirmed that the Commission received several complaints about Bala Muhammad from the families of the women involved.
Consequently, the Commission invited Muhammad for questioning to investigate the matter further.
Public infrastructure watch update:
An unidentified man was electrocuted while attempting to steal transformer cables belonging to the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) on Friday in Gombe.
Confirming this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe, ASP Buhari Abdullahi, the Police Public Relations Officer, Gombe State Command, said the incident happened at about 7:00a.m.
“Around 7:00a.m. on Friday, the Police on duty saw someone trying to cut high tension cable that linked the pole to the transformer at Independent National Election Commission (INEC) Zonal Store in Gombe.
“He cut one of the armoured cables; in the process of cutting the second, he was electrocuted,” Abdullahi said.
Outside Nigeria
Notice has been published into the misconduct hearing for the Metropolitan Police officer, PC Shola Balogun:
On the 22nd April 2022 about 70 people attended a 40th birthday party for police officer at Goals Sports Bar in Bexleyheath, Kent. Among those attending were members of her work team, ERT C, who were based at Bromley Police Station. PC Shola Balogun and PC were two of those police officers who were present at the party. The officers knew each other well as work colleagues, having been based at Bromley Police Station together since June 2018. There had been light-hearted horse play between them in the past but no significant falling out. Both describe a good friendly working relationship.
PC pub. said he arrived at the party at about 9pm after meeting other officers in a nearby PC Balogun arrived after PC and he admitted that had been drinking alcohol prior to his arrival. There is a dispute about the incidents that took place between them during that evening. PC says that at around 23.30 he walked up a flight of stairs from the dancefloor and found PC Balogun in front of him. PC Balogun was about an arms-length away when he reached out and grabbed PC spectacles off his face and dropped them on the floor. This surprised PC and he claimed to have then approached PC Balogun in a friendly manner whereupon PC Balogun responded by pushing him with his right hand to PC throat area. When PC then complained about PC Balogun’s actions in a conversation at a time when they were only a foot apart because the music was so loud, PC Balogun is alleged to have leant forward and to have bitten PC on the right side of his face.
[…]
In the present case PC Balogun does not have an unblemished past and the previous misconduct proved against him is serious. In the present case he committed a deliberate assault on a colleague without any explanation or justification. He humiliated PC Final Written Warning is not appropriate in this case. The only appropriate and proportionate outcome in this case is Dismissal Without Notice.
President Biden spoke to President Tinubu over the phone about life lately:
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria. President Biden offered his condolences on the recent flooding that has impacted northeastern Nigeria and underscored his appreciation for President Tinubu’s leadership in securing the release on humanitarian grounds of American citizen and former U.S. law enforcement official Tigran Gambaryan last week. The two leaders also spoke about the value of the U.S.-Nigeria partnership in addressing global challenges and advancing security and prosperity across multiple sectors. In particular, President Biden expressed appreciation for cooperation on law enforcement, including through the recently announced Bilateral Liaison Group on Illicit Finance and Cryptocurrencies, for collaboration on new and innovative technologies, and on shared interests in reforming international organizations to reflect African voices.
Missed this story from August. Came to my attention because someone who went to school in Nigeria shared it with me:
A Toronto man has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting an unknown woman who has never come forward to police, but whose “terrifying” attack outside the front door of an east-end Toronto home was captured by surveillance footage.
According to legal experts, it is rare for prosecutors to be able to prove a sexual assault happened without having the testimony of the alleged victim, let alone not knowing her identity.
The 2023 sex assault happened in public and was captured in disturbing home surveillance footage that was then turned over to police by the home’s residents, leading to Odele Olafimihan’s arrest.
Olafimihan, 43, pleaded guilty on Aug. 13 and was sentenced the same day.
Court heard that Olafimihan started to follow the woman as he wandered around the area after leaving a bar in the early hours of Oct. 14, 2023. He then approached her as she knocked on the door of a home whose residents she did not know on a residential street just north of Danforth Avenue, near Pape Avenue.
The woman herself has never come forward. Police weren’t able to locate her, and her identity remains unknown.
“There is no victim impact statement before me, but there is a woman in this community who will never forget the night,” wrote Ontario Court Justice Cidalia Faria in her decision sentencing Olafimihan to four years, a joint request from the Crown and defence.
Nigeria to New York loading:
Traveling between Africa and the United States just got easier.
Delta Air Lines recently announced the seasonal expansion of a nonstop flight between New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Lagos, Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The flight will operate daily as the second daily nonstop flight in Delta’s route network.The airline currently operates service from its main hub in Atlanta, GA.
The 10-hour and 2-minute flight departs New York at 3:33 p.m., and arrives at 7:35 a.m. the next day. The return flight from Nigeria to New York is 12 hours and departs at 9:35 a.m. and arrives in New York at 3:35 p.m. The flight operates on an Airbus A330-200 which features four different levels of service: Delta One, Premium Select, Comfort Plus, and Main Cabin.
Interview with Davido in Esquire:
When it came to filming the music video for their new single, Awuke, Nigerian singer-songwriter Davido was dead-set on flying YG Marley out to Lagos.
“We could've shot the video anywhere in the world but I wanted to him to experience Africa,” Davido told me over Zoom on a recent autumn evening. “And he had the time of his life – you could see the joy on his face”.
It marked YG Marley's first time in Africa, despite his dad's family's strong ties to the continent. Not to mention the fact that his mother, Lauryn Hill, has long been a crusader for the African diaspora.
“I wanted to show him the same thing I want to show everyone else: almost everything they have in the Western world, they have at home," Davido tells me. “Because I spent time in schools in the West growing up, I know that people outside of Africa aren't really educated in what it's really like.”
Who is Tacko Fawaz?
Colorado's final verbal commitment for the men's basketball early signing period was a big one... literally. The 6-foot-11, 246-pound Tacko Fawaz added some much needed size to its 2025 class, picking the Buffaloes over California, Oklahoma State, Providence, Seton Hall, Stanford, Utah and Villanova, among others.
The three-star prospect at Dream City Christian in Arizona initially thought he was going to commit to Andy Enfield at USC, then SMU, when Enfield made the move to Texas.
"But they got a new big and when I tried to check and see where I stood, they would say nothing," he recapped. "With SMU not there anymore, I just kept playing. And as I kept playing, I kept getting more attention."
Fawaz had trips lined up with Colorado, Stanford and Villanova, but the Nigerian born standout only ended up taking one official visit with his recruitment before pulling the trigger.
[…]
His given name is Ifaola Fawaz but the "Tacko" nickname was given to him while he was still in Nigeria, and it continued to stick after his move to the United States. Fawaz was discovered in his home country by Pervis Ellison, known as "Never Nervous Pervis" during his college career at Louisville and for 12 years in the NBA.
Fawaz grew up playing soccer but when a growth spurt kicked in when he was 14, a transition to basketball naturally occurred. Fawaz said he practiced "every day" after picking up the sport, allowing him to get the attention necessary to pursue his hoop dreams in the United States.
South Africa just won’t let up on Chidinma:
South Africa is stripping a would-be Miss South Africa contestant, who was at the centre of a row over her nationality, of her national identity papers, the government said.
Chidimma Adetshina, 23, withdrew from the Miss South Africa pageant in August amid a torrent of abuse over allegations she was not South African which prompted an official investigation into her citizenship.
The government said Tuesday it was cancelling Adetshina and her mother's identification documents after they missed a deadline to justify keeping them.
The law student was born in South Africa to a Nigerian father but faced a backlash that exposed anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa.
Her Nigerian heritage attracted vicious xenophobic attacks when she was announced as a Miss South Africa finalist.
Rukewan seems to be doing well for herself in Dubai:
Rukewan Onoge, a Nigerian in Dubai, believed in her skills and expertise and bagged a job with Expo 2020 in 2022 without any local connections or experience.
She was confident of finding a job in Dubai and relentless in her search. The 36-year-old did not think twice about quitting a public relations job as it did not match her educational qualifications and core expertise.
Her self-belief and patience paid off, and she secured a well-paying job as a technical writer.
Ms Onoge has a master’s degree in computer science from Lancaster University in the UK, and a bachelor's degree in the same subject from Nigeria.
She takes modelling assignments part-time, hosts a podcast and trains people in digital marketing. She has also launched a music video and is scouting for singing gigs in Dubai.
She lives in Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai, and has been in the UAE for two and half years.
Bro David with the record breaker:
The first black man to climb all 282 Munros in Scotland has said he hopes his feat will inspire black youngsters to take up mountaineering.
David Solomon, from Inverness, set off to climb Ben Nevis when he was looking for an escape during lockdown and overcoming a “dark time” mentally.
The cyber security analyst, who was grieving the death of his sister and the breakdown of a romantic relationship, took on all 282 Munros — the mountains with an elevation of more than 3,000ft — over the next four years.
[…]
Solomon relocated to the United Kingdom to study 15 years ago having been born and raised in Nigeria. A British citizen with a 12-year-old daughter, he now lives in the Highlands.
We’ve talked about Chef Kwame Onwuachi in this newsletter before. The NYT have another big feature on him:
He has endorsed or partnered with Lexus, American Express, Warby Parker, Macy’s and other companies that have approached Jordan Solomon, one of his representatives at Creative Artists Agency. In his posts on Instagram, he is as likely to be showing off his Microsoft Surface Pro tablet as sharing the latest accolade for his New York restaurant, Tatiana, where tables are still maddeningly, tantalizingly hard to get, nearly two years into its run.
“Kwame is a completely different celebrity chef from the Bobby Flays and Mario Batalis,” said the chef Alexander Smalls, a friend and mentor. While earlier cooking stars were defined by their profession, Mr. Onwuachi has already transcended his.
One indication that Mr. Onwuachi has more room to roam than the typical celebrity chef: Tom Colicchio was skewered as a “total sellout” for his Diet Coke commercial and Rick Bayless was called “a pimp for the Evil Empire” when he promoted a Burger King chicken sandwich, but Mr. Onwuachi took almost no flak for filming a Coca-Cola ad or taking part in a McDonald’s marketing event.
“He is extraordinarily extroverted in his activities, and they cross the gamut, from golf to basketball, to Hollywood and movies, and doing pop-ups and appearances and media,” Mr. Smalls said. “That’s new to the chef community. We don’t usually have that reach.”
The late Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s work will be exhibited in Ohio from January:
At first glance, the pairing sounds unlikely. At birth, Smith and Fani-Kayode were separated by a world of difference and an ocean. Smith was born in 1947 in Detroit, while Fani-Kayode was born in 1955 in Lagos, Nigeria. Smith’s family were middle-class African Americans, while Fani-Kayode was raised in a prominent Yoruba family. Smith grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and has spent most of her adult life in New York; for her, the Wexner exhibition is a tender return home. Fani-Kayode spent his childhood on the other side of the Atlantic, fleeing Lagos for Brighton, England, at age 11 during the beginnings of the Nigerian civil war (he would later spend time in Washington, D.C., and New York before returning to England).
But despite these biographical differences, the photographers share a language in their work: a language of higher powers and preternatural forces. The cadence of their images might be compared to the way Smith described the sound of wind chimes in a video interview: “It’s like going into meditation.”
Moniepoint announced a very big raise this week, elevating it to Unicorn status:
The Nigeria-based fintech Moniepoint has gained “unicorn” status after raising $110mn from investors including Google, a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy funding market for African technology companies.
The funding round for the nine-year-old company, led by London-based private equity firm Development Partners International and supported by Google’s Africa Investment Fund, gave it a valuation of at least $1bn for the first time, according to people familiar with the transaction.
Moniepoint, which had already previously raised $55mn from investors, operates in the fast-growing fintech market in Nigeria, one of a cohort of companies providing digital financial services in Africa’s most populous nation where many still lack access to basic services including bank accounts.
Moniepoint’s chief executive Tosin Eniolorunda said that while the company would continue to invest in its home market of Nigeria, it planned to use the funds to expand into other countries in Africa.
What does Chinenye Lawrence love about living in the UK?
But despite already shocking the host, Chinenye didn't hold back when revealing other things she enjoyed about the UK.
'And there are a lot of men here' she continued. 'You know you can choose as many as you [want]. I love men a lot... yeah so much'.
The presenter struggled to keep it together and burst into loud laughter while Chinenye tried to run off camera.
But funnily enough she wasn't done: 'Just don't use men to joke with me', she added. 'I love guys a lot!'
Meanwhile the Chadian Army is accused of killing dozens of Nigerians:
Chad's military has been accused of killing "scores" of fishermen in Nigeria while targeting jihadists, days after 40 died in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in Chad, fishermen and anti-jihadist militia told AFP on Thursday.
The Chadian army launched an airstrike pummelling Tilma island in Kukawa district on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad on Wednesday while fishermen were tending to their catch, the sources said.
Two anti-jihadist militia assisting Nigerian soldiers in fighting the militant groups in the region told AFP that "scores" were killed in the bombardment.
"There was an attack on fishermen by a (fighter) jet belonging to the Chadian military in Tilma island which killed scores of fishermen," Babakura Kolo, an anti-jihadist militia leader, said.
"The jet mistook the fishermen for Boko Haram terrorists who attacked a military base inside Chad on Sunday," Kolo added.