Below The Headlines - 69
What stopped the naira from crashing to N1 billion to $1? Prayer. And a Nigerian carpenter bought a multimillion dollar mansion in America through hard work
Catch up with our read-along of Capitalism in the Colonies in the latest instalment covering chapters 9 and 10. Plenty of cocoa in this one.
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Inside Nigeria
Life is really brutish and rough in many parts of Nigeria:
Seven decomposed corpses suspected to be those of the kidnappers have been set ablaze by villagers in Ohiore community in Toto LGA of Nasarawa, which borders Achido village in the Abaji Area Council of the FCT.
City & Crime had reported that villagers from Achido in Abaji, on Tuesday, abandoned their farms following the discovery of seven decomposed kidnappers’ corpses at their farms.
A vigilante, who led the villagers to the farm, said the corpses were evacuated and dumped inside a valley before the villagers set it ablaze.
Internet fraudster sentenced to prison in Lagos. One down, several thousand to go:
Alabi is to serve his jail term at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, in Lagos.
Oshodi, while delivering the judgment, said he had considered the effect of cybercrime which damaged Nigeria’s international reputation.
He also said he had taken into consideration the timely plea bargain entered into by the convict which had saved judicial time and resources. However, he noted that he did not believe the convict was genuinely sorry because he lied to the court.
He said: “I do not believe you are genuinely sorry because you lied to this court that you started Internet fraud this year whereas in your confessional statement, it showed you started in 2023.
“Having been convicted of the charge of possession of fraudulent documents, I hereby sentence you to one year and two months imprisonment or pay an N1m fine.
Meanwhile at the upper end of the scale, we get an idea of the kind of money these internet fraudsters are robbing people of:
Operatives of the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, have rejected $100,000 (About N174m) bribe from a 28-year-old suspected internet fraudster, Patrick Akpoguma, alleged to have been involved in various types of internet-related frauds, including romance scams, identity theft, cyber hacking, cryptocurrency fraud, ritualism, and cultism.
The suspect, Akpoguma, confessed to the crime while speaking with journalists at Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos. He explained that, in an attempt to have his name cleared, he began offering monetary bribes to the police. He offered the sum of $100,000 USD to the police.
Addressing the press, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, Adegoke Fayoade, revealed that the investigation into Akpoguma began on November 7, 2024, after receiving reports from residents of Chevron Drive, Lekki, where the suspect resides.
According to AIG Fayoade, “Patrick Akpoguma admitted to being involved in what is known as romance scams and other cryptocurrency-related scams. “He meets various people online and presents himself as a notable and famous Caucasian American, such as Colonel Matt Herbert, a serving U.S. Army officer currently on a peacekeeping mission in Iran. He also impersonated Adam Taggart, a renowned cryptocurrency and stock brokerage expert in the United States.
He convinces his unsuspecting victims that he is a top executive working on several projects that require funding, which leads him to request loans. Typically, he receives these loans via his Bitcoin Trust Wallet or through blockchain transactions. So far, he has defrauded more than seven victims using this method.
The EFCC bent over backwards to clear the daughter of a former governor of Gombe of the manufactured crime of currency abuse and the ‘reasoning’ they put out is just the funniest thing ever:
“Allegations of the abuse of the Naira were imputed to Mrs Fauziya Danjuma Goje, daughter of Senator Danjuma Goje, by Nigerians from all walks of life, including an editorial by a leading and respected national newspaper.
“As a responsible and accountable anti-corruption agency campaigning against currency mutilation and dollarisation of the economy, the EFCC swung into action by analysing the video and findings showed that the alleged naira abuse actually happened but not at the wedding of Goje’s daughter but at the wedding dinner of Amina Babagana Zannah held on the aforementioned date.
“Zannah is the daughter of Hajara Seidu Haruna (aka Hafsat Gold Nigeria), who is the Chief Executive Officer of Hafsat Jewellery Enterprise with offices in Abuja, Kano, and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
“Haruna confirmed the viral video. She admitted that the alleged naira abuse took place at the wedding dinner of her daughter on October 24, 2024. The bridegroom, Ibrahim Mohammad, hails from the Niger Republic, and those that allegedly sprayed naira notes and dollar bills were from. The groom’s family in Niger Republic,” the EFCC spokesperson stated.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous nation availeth much:
Adeboye also addressed the controversy surrounding the government’s decision to eliminate costly fuel subsidies, a move that angered those who profited from the previous system and contributed to further economic challenges.
“We need help, and it’s not human help; it’s divine help,” he stated.
“Before our current president took office, we were aware that the root of our financial issues lay in the importation of petrol. Despite having oil, we continued to import petrol and waste billions on refineries that did not operate effectively.
“When the president cancelled the subsidy on petrol imports, those who benefited from it became upset and created more problems.”
As the naira continued to decline rapidly, Adeboye said that he prayed and was grateful that others joined him in prayer.
“If God hadn’t intervened, $1 could have been worth N10,000 by now. This illustrates how much we need prayers,” he said.
Stuff like this is still happening, by the way:
Two days after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officers arrested Cyrus Reggae, a Kaduna-based artiste, he is still being detained.
When the EFCC officers raided Apple Gate Hotel and Suites around Yakowa Way in Kaduna on Wednesday afternoon, Reggae, an artiste under the Black Root Entertainment Record Label with the stage name ‘Lucent’, was arrested along with several others.
FIJ gathered that the anti-fraud agency officers arrested everyone there, including some suspected internet fraudsters.
“After probing him, and they have nothing against him, the EFCC has refused to grant his bail. Although we sent a legal representative on Thursday and Friday, there’s no positive response yet,” a source, who does not want to be named, told FIJ on Friday.
According to FIJ’s source, one of the reasons the EFCC officers continue to detain the artiste, despite not finding any incriminating thing on him, is his hair. Reggae has dreadlocks.
Outside Nigeria
Someone has noticed a pattern in the US cracking down on Nigerian cybercrime:
A significant number of Nigerian cybercriminals have been sent to prison in recent months in the United States, and some of them received lengthy sentences.
The latest is Babatunde Francis Ayeni, a Nigerian national who had been living in the UK until he was extradited to the US. On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that he received a 10-year prison sentence for a business email compromise (BEC) scheme targeting real estate transactions.
According to authorities, Ayeni was involved in a sophisticated BEC scheme that involved phishing the email credentials of real estate agents and attorneys in the United States.
The man and his co-conspirators monitored compromised email accounts for significant real estate transactions and then instructed the party that was making the payment — by sending them an email from the hacked account — to wire the funds to an account controlled by the fraudsters.
News from here in England:
A county lines gang leader who dealt drugs since he was a teenager has avoided deportation to Nigeria after claiming it would breach his rights to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Nigerian, who was jailed for eight years for supplying drugs, also successfully argued that he could not be returned to the West African country because it did not have adequate psychiatric care to treat his mental health problems.
The 29-year-old, who has been granted anonymity by the courts, claimed it would be a breach of his Article 3 rights under the ECHR because deportation would be inhuman and degrading by denying him the medical treatment he needed.
His claim against deportation was initially rejected by an immigration tribunal amid allegations that some of his claims about his family were “a work of fiction”, but the removal order was overturned on appeal.
The tribunal was told he came to Britain from Nigeria at the age of 10, but remained in the country illegally after overstaying his visa.
He was dealing drugs by the age of 15 and was convicted six years later in 2016 of possession with intent to supply both cocaine and heroin.
Despite being handed a suspended jail sentence for that offence, he continued to run an “efficient” drugs line in Farnborough, using “people he knew and could trust, including a young man who was only 17”, according to the court documents.
He and his girlfriend were making up to £5,000 a week from their drugs network, which he “masterminded”, advertising for clients on social media. A police investigation resulted in his conviction and sentencing to eight years in jail in July 2018.
As we have been saying on this newsletter, Nigerian food is global now and is having a real moment. The New York Times has caught up. You are all welcome:
Now at Chishuru, in the onetime bohemian enclave of Fitzrovia in central London, you might sample eko, a Nigerian wobbly cake of fermented corn wallowing in pepper soup, while sipping a martini with a pod of okra speared at the rim — a blend of vodka and ogogoro, a mellow, smoky spirit with grassy contours distilled from palm wine and banned in the early 20th century in Nigeria by British colonial authorities, not in the interest of temperance but to force locals to buy imported British gin instead.
A few blocks away, a meal at Akoko might begin with a whiskey and soda crowned by a lacy gray-black tuile melded from rice powder and egusi, fat white melon seeds, and Ghanaian bofrot, a crackly ball of fried yeasted dough scarlet from pulverized Scotch bonnets. Behind gold-link curtains at Tatiana, inside Manhattan’s David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, an $86 plate (meant to be shared) of pastrami short-rib suya (similar to Nigerian barbecue) gleams with yaji, a spice blend from the Hausa people, a flame-hued swirl of chile, garlic, ginger and crushed groundnuts. On Magazine Street in New Orleans, the pull-apart bread rolls at Dakar are lush with palm oil and, if you’re lucky, dessert will be thiakry, a millet porridge, thick and tangy with sour cream and yogurt and here incarnated as a pecan pie.
At some of these restaurants, the only option is a tasting menu: to put yourself in the hands of the chef; to submit to a higher power. Adejoké Bakare, the 51-year-old chef of Chishuru, compared it to the bounty of an owambe — a Yoruba term for the over-the-top parties that light up Lagos and the cities of southwestern Nigeria, milestone celebrations with ecstatic music, dancing to make the world shake and plate after plate of everything you’d ever want to eat. The theme is abundance, for the table, for life. You sit back and let it come.
Long and detailed feature on the artist Jadé Fadojutimi who counts anime among her inspirations:
Fadojutimi grew up in Ilford, a town on the eastern fringe of Greater London, the eldest of three daughters. Her father, a management consultant, and her mother, a civil servant, are British of Nigerian heritage, and in some respects her upbringing hewed to familiar cultural contours. She was permitted less social liberty than some of her schoolmates, and was expected to perform well academically—although, she told me wryly, “I don’t have the toughest Nigerian parents in the world. We know this because I am doing art.”
[…]
While she was still in elementary school, she discovered Japanese anime through watching “Sailor Moon,” a television adaptation of a manga series about a girl whose encounter with a talking cat inducts her into a new identity as a powerful heroine who fights evil. By the time Fadojutimi entered high school, she was a devotee of the genre. “I watched at least three hundred different series—I would sleep, wake up, and watch more anime,” she said. “I was really moved by them. I remember thinking, Wow, for how depressed I am, I am really living through these animations.” Fascinated by what she knew of Japanese youth culture, she began attending twice-yearly anime conventions in London, dressing in the style known as Lolita. The aesthetic is exaggerated twee girlishness: frilly pastel-colored dresses, ankle socks edged with lace, wigs decked out with oversized satin bows. “I felt more like myself when I was dressed up in these outfits than I did when I was in anything ordinary,” Fadojutimi told me. “You don’t even recognize yourself anymore. I was very into everything that was imagined into the real—dolls, cuddly toys, even going to Disneyland. So being able to play a part in that made me feel like I was existing beyond existence.”
Do you live in Phoenix, Arizona? Jollof rice is now available:
The dishes are bright in both color in flavor: deep oranges and bright reds on the eyes, nuanced and filled with spices to taste. Chef Patience Ogunbanjo brings Nigerian cuisine to the masses, both through her food truck, Lasgidi Cafe, and cooking experiences that teach folks how to make the food themselves.
"We make Nigerian food for everyone," she says, recounting Lasgidi Cafe's winding journey.
As most who approach the truck have never tried Nigerian food before, Ogunbanjo wants people to know a couple things about her culture and cuisine.
"We're not all scammers!" she says, laughing at the stereotype. And for the food, "It's customizable: it can be gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and I promise it doesn't have to be spicy."Ogunbanjo's food truck has taken off since its initial launch in February 2023. But her mission to make Nigerian cuisine approachable to everyone began long before that.
In 2016, Ogunbanjo would cook for friends and family, who then asked her to cater small events like birthday parties. By 2018, Lasgidi started providing AirBnb experiences — a way for people to interpret West African food using their own hands in small-group cooking classes. When COVID-19 halted in-person gatherings, Ogunbanjo, ever the adapter, shifted to online dinners where people would learn to cook a meal and then eat together virtually.
Good report by WaPo on a house bought for $2.8 million in Virginia, USA with stolen Nigerian money:
The $2.8 million mansion, tucked at the end of a private drive, boasts a climate-controlled wine cellar, sauna and four fireplaces — features not uncommon to this wealthy part of the Washington suburbs.
But the man who bought the place a couple of years ago did not stick around to enjoy them, neighbors said. He introduced himself, then disappeared, leaving some wondering what was happening behind his nine-foot-tall carved-wood front doors.
The mansions in leafy McLean, Virginia, like mansions everywhere, tend to hold interesting characters with money. Here along a quiet street in a neighborhood called The Ridings, there’s a noted plastic surgeon, a high-powered corporate lawyer and the CEO of a defense consulting firm, among others, property records show.
But court filings in Nigeria, as well as those from an insurance claim surrounding a jewelry theft from another mansion near Beverly Hills, California, suggest the owner of the McLean residence has a different type of story.
[…]
Under Buhari’s administration, Nigerian authorities turned their attention to the previous president’s national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, accusing him of diverting large sums of money earmarked to fight Boko Haram. The new president ordered the arrests of Dasuki and others.
The money, Nigerian law enforcement officials said, trickled out to destinations around the world. One of the recipients, the officials alleged, was the man whose shell company bought the McLean mansion a couple of years ago. His name is Robert John Oshodin Sr.
Oshodin, 83, learned carpentry as a youth in Nigeria, according to his bio on an archived version of a website for a furniture manufacturing company he later founded, Bob Oshodin Organization Limited. Oshodin and Dasuki, who both lived in the United States for long stretches, became close friends after meeting decades ago, said Oshodin’s wife, Mimie Oshodin, during testimony in a civil case.
The families were close enough that the Oshodins agreed to look after two of Dasuki’s children, then teenagers, who were attending school in the United States while Dasuki served as Nigeria’s national security adviser. It was also during this time, Nigerian officials alleged, that Dasuki illegally transferred tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Nigerian and U.S. currency from state funds to the Oshodins’ furniture company.
One of the most popular nightclubs in London has been closed down after a security guard allegedly raped a woman there:
The Metropolitan Police said the club will be shut for up to 28 days after Westminster Council decided to suspend its licence earlier on Friday.
It follows an allegation that a woman was raped close to the venue by a member of security staff this month.
"Other staff then allegedly ignored her efforts to report the attack," the force said.
A member of security staff has been arrested and charged with rape, and is on remand in prison, police said.
Morenikeji Adewole, 47, from Dartford - also known as Olu Julius or Olusolu Alabi - was charged with rape on Wednesday.
Interview with the town brothers who make up the duo known as Kairo:
Growing up in Cypress, about 25 miles northwest of Houston, EJ and AK Odjighoro felt like any other boys in Texas. They went to Whataburger, drove into the city when their parents would permit it, and spent Friday nights at high school football games. It was only after the duo—who record music under the name Kairo—began college at the University of Houston that their experience as twins and immigrants from Nigeria was contextualized in a new way.
As soon as the brothers, who are now 23 years old, arrived on campus, they realized just how homogeneous their suburban community had been, despite the fact that they’d run with what they call a “diverse” friend group. It was this eye-opening realization that informed Kairo’s origin. Blending pop, R&B, soul, hip-hop, and rock, the duo began telling their story across the 2022 EPs Love Letters From Houston and Return to Sender.
These days, EJ and AK are signed to Def Jam Records and live in L.A. With the arrival of their debut LP, Are We There Yet, on Wednesday, the brothers are more excited than ever to share their artistry as Nigerian Americans, Texans from Houston, and twin brothers hell-bent on taking over the treacherous music industry.
An article that tries to explain why there are so many variants of Akara out in the wild:
Nigeria is a beautiful West African country filled with amazing varieties of cultural traditions and flavorful foods. Among the most popular dishes originating from Nigeria is Akara, a plant-based fritter made from black-eyed peas. Akara has its origins in the Yoruba culture of southwestern Nigeria, especially in regions like Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos.
Over time, it spread across West Africa and in the diaspora, eventually reaching Brazil, where it became known as acarajé, introduced by Africans who had been transported there through the transatlantic slave trade. Nowadays, Afro-Brazilian women, particularly in Bahia, keep this heritage alive by selling acarajé on the streets while dressed in traditional attire. In Nigeria and Brazil, Akara has become a beacon of cultural resilience and a beloved comfort food enjoyed with pap or bread for breakfast.
This forced migration allowed various cultures to use diverse ingredients and methods of cooking to create the many forms of akara enjoyed globally today. Each variation from Africa to the Americas highlights local ingredients, tastes, and cultures, showing how a basic (but delicious) fritter can evolve and incorporate new flavors while staying true to its origins.
[…]
Across the Caribbean and the Americas, Akara-inspired dishes have taken on new identities, reflecting the different cultures that adopted them. In the Caribbean, fritters often contain native spices and alternate legumes, which create new flavors that arise from combining African roots with island contributions. In Trinidad and Tobago, for example, they might include local hot peppers or curry spices, which add a bold, spicy twist.
In the American South, you have Hoppin' John, a dish that can remind you of akara, as it mixes black-eyed peas with rice and seasoning. Even in contemporary vegan cuisine, akara is gaining popularity, with chefs throwing in fresh herbs, corn, or other vegetables to modernize the plant-based delicacy. These spinoffs show just how adaptable and versatile this dish really is. Each new version tells a unique story, capturing something special about where it ended up. With thousands of miles between these delicious variations, all roads lead back to Nigeria.
Are you planning to be in Lagos for Detty December? We only recommend the best in this newsletter so here are a list of accommodation options for you. There is, as always, no need to thank us:
As the end of the year approaches, many travelers are gearing up for their Detty December festivities in Africa. Families, first-generation travelers, and good-time party seekers are known to travel to bustling cities – mainly Accra or Lagos – for the holiday season. “Detty December,” or “Dirty December,” is that enjoyment-filled period, touted for its intense clubbing and memory-making nightlife. It’s often common for travelers to stay with family or rent a vacation home with friends.
It’s wise to plan the trip months in advance when visiting Lagos for an extended time. Planning ahead can help score the best deals on airfare and accommodations.
If you’re going for Detty December festivities in Lagos, Motyat ‘Tia Taylor’ Olatunmbi, founder of the travel experience agency Káàbò, suggests not staying on the mainland. She noted in a September TikTok that many of the nightlife hotspots December visitors want to frequent are on or around Lagos Island. As she explained, staying in key areas will help you have closer proximity to where all the action is. Moreover, it’ll help avoid being subjected to the mainland’s traffic.
Olatunmbi suggested staying in Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki, or Oniru. Consider these luxe stays for your future Detty December trip to Lagos. Each hotel is a great option if you’re staying in Lagos for a short trip or need short-term accommodations in the hotspots during your broader, extended trip.
Things that seem ‘normal’ in Nigeria or just background noise can look very crazy to people outside Nigeria. Such as the fact that buildings regularly collapse and it never triggers any kind of policy reaction:
An urgent warning has been issued as buildings start to collapse at random across an entire county.
Nigeria’s government has put out a desperate appeal to member of the Nigeria Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE) to find a solution to the terrifying problem.
In October this year a building collapsed in suburban Lagos, killing seven people, while 21 people died after a school building collapsed in central Nigeria in July, while students sat an exam. The BBC reported that a building has collapsed on average every two weeks in Lagos this year.
Regional Development Minister Abubakar Momoh expressed concern on behalf of the government at the the 22nd international civil engineering conference and this year’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
An American goes fashion shopping in Lagos:
Long before traveling to Lagos, Nigeria, I knew fashion would be at the center of my first visit to the country. My friend Karen, who is Nigerian-American and easily the most stylish person I know, had invited me to visit during the city’s Fashion Week. In the same way that foodies try the best restaurants wherever they travel, I like to see the clothes everywhere I go. My closet feels like a living museum of the places I’ve been: There's the bag I got in Lusaka, Zambia; a scarf from Istanbul; trousers from Ubud, Bali; a bracelet from Palermo; a blouse from Mexico City. I could go on.
My wardrobe—an amalgam of animal prints, stripes, feathers, sequins, and (faux) furs—is colorful, and I figured that, if there was a place where I’d see bold, beautiful clothing that fit my aesthetic, it was Lagos. But as thrilled as I was to explore the fashion scene, I worried that no matter how much I liked the clothes, I wouldn’t actually fit in them. In the States, my curvy size 14-18 body (depending on the item, brand, store, or season of my life) is often a hindrance for in-store shopping. Many brands don’t stock larger sizes on the floor; others don’t carry them at all. And frankly, the options that do exist aren’t all that stylish—something plus-sized women deride regularly. In 2023, it felt like designers on my side of the Atlantic had succumbed to naked-dressing, the teeniest of mini skirts, low-rise jeans, and cropped tops—all trends that have only accelerated since—for items that simply aren't for me.
[…]
When we arrived, I realized I was still worried about the idea of nothing fitting, but I had a plan: I would stick to accessories. On our first day, I picked out a patchwork denim hat by the brand This Is Us. I loved how big and floppy it was, making for the perfect dramatic flair. But when we made our way to Éki Kéré, a brand inspired by the traditions of Nigeria’s “Raffia City,” Ikot Ekpene, I loved the dyed kimonos and dresses with their raffia trims so much—I couldn’t resist trying them on.
I nervously picked up a red maxi dress with raffia pockets and headed for the dressing room.
It fit. I was thrilled and immediately planned to buy it.
There was a cake:
Wedding guests were left in awe when a bride's stunning wedding cake was a replica of her shimmering grown and measured in at a whopping five feet tall.
An unnamed bride went viral after a video of her reaction to her glamorous wedding cake circulated the web.
The gorgeous dessert was nearly an exact match to the bride's dress and was even complete with blinding sparkles and frosting that was made to mimic the look of tulle.
People on the web fell in love with the gown cake after the baking company, Luxury Cakes In BeninCity, which is located in Nigeria, shared the process of creating the treat on its Instagram page.
Meanwhile in the Philippines:
Criminal cases have been filed against five Nigerians who were arrested in Angeles City, Pampanga on Thursday for allegedly kidnapping their compatriot.
The suspects, namely Evans Enwwereaku Chinemerem, David Chidera Ibegbulamo, Nwokeke Christian Ihechukwu, Nwokeke Cajothan Chinemmerem and Okonkwo Emmanuel Kosiso, who are all residents of Angeles City, are facing criminal complaints of kidnapping for ransom and violation of Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
Central Luzon Police director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said the suspects were arrested when operatives of the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group, together with Mabalacat City and Angeles City police, raided their hideout in Barangay Malabanias at around 5 a.m.
Maranan added that the operation was based on information from the Anti-Kidnapping Group that the suspects kidnapped their fellow Nigerian, Kingsley Chukwuemeka Ikeagwuana, a student residing at Urban Resort Residences in Paranaque City and held the victim for ransom.
“Hopefully, this will serve as a warning to those who want to commit crimes and to thieves,” he said.
Three firearms, two .45 caliber pistols and a .38 caliber revolver with ammunition were seized from the suspects.