Below The Headlines - 85
Double check with the Katsina First Lady before sending any money and June Ashimola says she's not dead
Hope you have enjoyed the week so far. Stay out of the heat and drink a lot of water especially if you are fasting for Ramadan.
Enjoy this week’s selection below.
Inside Nigeria
So many of my friends in Nigeria have been complaining about the intense heat wave in Nigeria at the moment:
A pregnant woman in Yola, Adamawa State, Hajiya Hajara Audu, shared a heart-wrenching account of how she lost her one month-old pregnancy due to the extreme heat.
“I went to work and felt the heat penetrating deep into my bones. Before I could rush to the hospital, I started bleeding; and that’s how I lost my pregnancy,” she narrated.
Our correspondents report that residents across many states of the country are groaning under the scorching heat as a result of change in atmospheric conditions. They lament that it is affecting their health, livelihoods and daily activities.
Experts have also warned that the heat stress has health implications, and there is a need for members of the public, including Muslim faithful currently observing their Ramadan fast to adopt measures to stay healthy and hydrated.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) had in an advisory on Tuesday, March 11, issued an alert on heat stress in the country.
The agency said rising temperatures and high humidity levels over the next couple of days may cause thermal discomfort across several regions.
It said the most affected areas were Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Kogi, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, Cross River and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Other vulnerable regions are; Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Sokoto states, as well as coastal areas.
Sex Workers in Abuja took the FCT Minister to court and lost:
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, declined to legalise prostitution in the country, even as it dismissed a suit that sought to enforce fundamental rights of commercial sex workers in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
The court, in a judgement that was delivered by Justice James Omotosho, while describing prostitution as an immoral act that is alien to the cultural values of all the ethnic groups in the country, said it found no reason to stop the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike and security agencies, from arresting those that engage in such illicit business.
According to the court, prostitutes have no legal rights to enjoy under any known law or the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.
The judgement followed a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/642/2024, which the sex workers filed to bar the FCT Minister and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, from harassing, intimidating, arresting and prosecuting them.
It’s often amusing how simple some of these scams are:
A Kaduna State High Court has ordered the remand of a husband and wife alongside two co-conspirators following their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly impersonating the wife of the Katsina State Governor and defrauding a Bureau De Change operator to the tune of N197m.
PUNCH Metro learnt in a statement by the EFCC on Thursday that the suspects, Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq and Hafsat Kabir Lawal, alongside two others, Abdullahi Bala and Ladani Akindele, were arraigned before Justice Amina Bello on six counts bordering on obtaining money by pretence, money laundering and stealing.
The statement noted that the suspects had registered two SIM cards in the name of the Katsina governor’s wife and used the registered SIMs to contact the chairman of Unity Bank in disguise as one of the governor’s wives to get the contact of the Bureau De Change operator.
Upon getting the contact, the suspects contacted him with the claim that they had a United States dollar to sell to him and requested that he deposit N197m.
The statement read, “Investigations showed that Hafsat contacted the petitioners as one of the wives of the current governor of Katsina State, Mallam Dikko Radda. Using that guise, she allegedly obtained the sum of N89,000,000 and another N108,000,000 from a petitioner claiming to have $118,300 to sell to them.
“Further investigations showed that Hafsat’s husband, Sadiq, provided his wife with two SIM cards and registered the same with the TrueCaller app as Fatima Dikko Radda.”
He then allegedly contacted the fourth defendant, Ladani Akindele, who was his former colleague at a new generation bank, and asked him to provide him with the contact number of the chairman of Unity Bank, Hafiz Bashir, through whom he got the contact number of the petitioner who is a Bureau de Change operator.
“Hafsat thereafter contacted the petitioner, Aminu Usman, and collected a total sum of N197,750,000 from him, claiming that she had a dollar equivalent of the money, $118,300, to offer him.”
Ramadan is quite tough this year:
Muslim faithfuls are groaning under the high cost of fruit in the market as they called for price review. According to them, the usual practice of breaking the Ramadan fast with fruits is fast becoming a luxury because of the hike in prices of fruit.
A survey by The Guardian revealed that prices of fruits have surged between 200 and 300 per cent in less than six months. For instance, a pineapple fruit, which was sold for N500 in 2024 has skyrocketed to N1,500 and N2,000.
One apple which normally goes for N200 is now N500, while a bunch of bananas which were sold between N500 and N700 last year, now go for between N1,200 and N1,300.
Similarly, one orange is sold for between N100 and N200 against N50. Speaking with The Guardian, Alhaji Idowu Aminu, lamented that many Muslims have boycotted fruits due to a hike in price and focus on filling their belly with whatever food they can afford.
He said: “We read that foodstuffs are getting cheaper, but it’s a farce. Imagine a civil servant on a N100,000 salary and needs to stock up the house; how much can N100,000 afford the person? Rice is still high, so what is left for a worker earning that amount?
“Food is essential during fasting; it’s a tradition. It’s difficult coping and it’s an issue of picking what is mostly needed and jettisoning others. Fill the tank first and forget about a balanced diet.
It’s really troubling (and scary) the kind of things that constitute ‘cyberstalking’ under the Nigerian Cybercrime Act:
Precious Eze, Olawale Rotimi, Rowland Olonishuwa and Seun Odunlami, four Nigerian bloggers accused of cyberstalking Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) and chief executive Segun Agbaje, have regained their freedom after spending six months in custody.
The bloggers where set free after the financial institution withdrew the charges it filed against them following a settlement agreement on Thursday.
The settlement involved the intervention of the Guild of Editors and the bank to have the matter settled amicably under the terms both parties agreed upon. The case was struck out at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
In August, the bloggers were accused of conspiring amongst themselves to cyberstalk and attempt to publish false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims which they all knew to be false against GTCO, its management, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the entire banking system in Nigeria.
The bloggers were also accused of perpetrating the act through various social media outlets.
The costs of artisanal mining in Borno:
One Friday afternoon in January, I was led to the Dogon Daji mining site in Gunda, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. There were over 20 men there. Some prostrated in prayer, others ate, cross-legged on the bare earth. A few sat, seeking a moment of rest beneath the weight of the afternoon sun.
At the entrance, two young miners crouched over a pit, dragging out a sack securely tied with a rope, its bulging shape suggesting a large rock inside. The pit they pulled from was freshly dug. Around them, more pits—some new, others abandoned—scarred the earth like open wounds refusing to heal. I stepped closer and peered into the pit where they worked. It was deep—so deep that I could not see the bottom. Below, another miner toiled, his silhouette faint, a glint of light bouncing off his forehead where a lamp was strapped. He looked up, his voice rising through the shaft as he called for another rope. Without hesitation, they tossed one down.
Not far from where I stood, another miner, perhaps in his early thirties, emerged from a separate pit. He wore a faded green jersey, darkened with sweat and clinging to his body. When his eyes met mine, he gave a slight nod.
“Welcome,” he said, wiping a hand across his face. We had spoken earlier on the phone. Now, in person, he led me toward a hump of sand where we could talk.
“The majority of us here are graduates,” Hassan Mohammed said, squatting on the sand. “There are no jobs. Farming is no longer sustainable. And this mineral–blue sapphire–is abundant in the soil, available almost everywhere in the community.”
Outside Nigeria
I’m very jealous of Aanu Adeoye who, in the name of services to journalism, managed to eat his way through the nicest restaurants in Lagos:
Located on the top floor of a seven-storey building in the heart of Victoria Island, Kaly, with its high ceilings and expansive interior, offers an upscale dining experience fit for a business lunch or dinner. Its terrace offers a view of Eko Atlantic, the controversial (depending on who you ask) new city outpost being built on land reclaimed from the ocean. It’s a brilliant spot to catch the sunset and, on nights when the sky is clear and the stars are out, it can be dreamy. Little wonder it plays host to many wedding-proposal dinners.Kaly comprises a restaurant with a well-stocked bar, a terrace and a lounge in partnership with a whisky brand where business elites hold meetings in relative privacy. Big business groups have accounts here.
The menu here is chock-full of Mediterranean options, reflecting the Lebanese origins of its proprietors. Lou Fakhri-Baker, who runs the place with her husband Tarek Baker, is a veteran of the hospitality industry. As a Lebanese woman who grew up in Senegal and now lives in Lagos, she told me the food at her restaurant is a reflection of her myriad cultural experiences. The hummus, which I tried at her urging, is genuinely the best I’ve had in Lagos.
One of the most bizarre stories I’ve read in a while:
Dead people do not normally give evidence in court — so one judge could be forgiven for being slightly bemused when June Ashimola appeared via video.
Ashimola was meant to have died six years earlier, triggering a legal row over her £350,000 estate. But she appeared via video from Nigeria before a High Court judge, John Linwood, to insist that reports of her demise were premature.
Ashimola’s appearance brought to an end a “long-running campaign” by a convicted fraudster to seize her London house. The court heard that the scam had involved a forged death certificate, a litany of false claims and even a potentially non-existent husband.
Linwood was told that Ashimola had brought the case after she was falsely declared dead and that a power of attorney over her estate — which consisted principally of a house — was granted to associates of Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster.
Invoking a degree of understatement, the judge described the case as “an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive”. He added that the “root of this claim is a long-running battle or campaign waged by … Ashikodi for control and/or ownership of the property”.
It emerged in court that Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned. Four years after her departure, power of attorney over the estate, including the property, was granted to Ruth Samuel on behalf of Bakare Lasisi, who says he married Ashimola in 1993.
The pair claimed that the Nigerian woman had died in Africa in 2019 without leaving a will. A copy of her alleged death certificate was presented in the High Court, and claims were made that any sightings of her since then were dismissed as a woman “masquerading” as Ashimola. But Ashimola has now told the court that the certificate was “false and fraudulent” and the grant relating to her estate and a house in southeast London had been “improperly” obtained.
Kerry Washington wades into the radioactive jollof wars:
So, a few weeks back when I was covering the NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 22, I found out that Kerry Washington would not only be in attendance, but she would also be taking questions from the press. I immediately knew this would be the opportune time to get her take on the topic tearing apart the internet.
Private as she is about her personal life, I knew that Washington, who has been married to Nigerian-American former-football-player-turned-producer Nnamdi Asomugha for 11 years, was going to have gotten wind of this debate — and she proved me right when she immediately begged, "Don't bring me into this!" when I asked who takes the jollof trophy between Nigeria and Ghana.
So with one hunch proven correct, I also suspected that, ever the loyal and #proudwifey (as she often likes to say whenever she posts about her husband's latest project), she was going to take their side. Right again.
"But of course, anything Naija is gonna be better," she admitted. "It's Naija. That is the truth."
And there you have it.
Feature on the superstar that is Rema:
For Rema, the best part of his first trip to the Grammy Awards was getting dressed for it. The Nigerian superstar wore a mound of custom diamonds over snakeskin and leather in his customary black, an outfit that landed him on Vogue’s list of best-dressed stars at the February ceremony. He didn’t win the award he was up for — Best Global Music Album, which went to Chicago native Matt B, alongside London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra — but he didn’t really mind. “I was just taking every moment in,” he tells me when I meet him at Interscope Studios in L.A. a few days later. “I was celebrating people walking up that stage. I had my fingers crossed that I’d walk up the stage too, and when it didn’t happen … it happens. It’s not the first award that I got nominated for and didn’t get.”
That outfit — or, rather, what it signified — was much more important. The crown jewel of his look that night, which can also be seen on the cover of this magazine, was a thick-linked chain that drops portraits of his late father and brother on the center of his chest, emblazoned on a bed of precious stones. His brother wears a green dashiki and gazes to the left, while his dad, in a jacket and tie, looks to the right. “I feel like their eyes can see everywhere I go,” Rema says. “So if I was going to be on that Grammy stage, they’re going to see how far I walked, all the way up. It feels like they’re there with me.”
Ambitious and ultra-local, with pummeling percussion and fierce taunts in Nigerian pidgin, the album Rema was nominated for — last year’s Heis — boldly honored his roots and commanded respect. Rema joined Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, and Tems as the only Afrobeats acts to earn album nominations in the history of the Grammys. At 24, he’s the youngest of them.
[…]
WHEN REMA’S FATHER was alive, things were good. His dad was a rising politician in Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party who at one time managed a government-funded publishing house. He did well enough to fund his wife’s fashion fixes — a predilection that may inform Rema’s own sharp style. “Even when we were not rich, my mom was like, ‘I have to look good,’” says Rema, who was born Divine Ikubor. She’d take Rema, his older brother, and his two sisters shopping. “She took us to the market to buy us big-ass shoes, big-ass jeans that we’d wear for the next three years as we grow. She was the only person switching up the fits. She gave off so much aura in church.”
A long feature on immigrants in the UAE has this section:
And I met many, many Africans who had settled there, seeking to build careers and businesses in a city that, unlike Western capitals, seems ready to welcome them.
One of them was Babafemi Akinlade, a software specialist who had built a thriving cybersecurity business back home in Nigeria. But as his business grew, he found it difficult to get international partners to work with him as long as he was based in Africa. When he expanded to markets elsewhere in the continent, it was often cumbersome to find direct flights to other African cities from Nigeria. Dubai solved those problems and more.
“I settled on the good environment for my family,” he told me. “It’s a shorter commute to any part of Africa.”
Like many Africans I met, he had on occasion tried to travel to the West for business but found the intrusive process of getting a visa as a Nigerian citizen demeaning. In 2016 a German company invited him to sign a deal to start a streaming service in Nigeria, so he applied for a visa, handing over reams of private information about his family and finances. But it was turned down.
“They said we didn’t have enough ties,” he told me. Despite Akinlade having a successful business, young children and a wide family network, the German government seemed to fear that he would leave all that behind to live as an undocumented immigrant in Germany. The $3.5 million deal fell through, he said.
I met Akinlade at a celebration for Nigeria’s independence day, and his wife, Toyin, wandered over to join the conversation. She told me that Dubai suited her.
“It’s easier to raise children here, instill in them whatever morals,” she said. Plus, she added, Dubai is safer. “With three teenagers, I don’t want to have my heart in my throat every time they go out.”
News from Seattle:
A 38-year-old Nigerian national was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Friday, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
Onomen Uduebor faces a three-count indictment for allegedly stealing and misusing local tax information after being extradited from the U.K.
The indictment, initially filed in 2019, was unsealed on Friday when Uduebor appeared in court for the first time. He pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set for May. He faces charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to court documents, between 2016 and 2017 Uduebor and his associates sent phishing emails that appeared to come from a company executive asking for W-2 data. They used the W-2 information to file more than 300 bogus tax returns claiming over $1 million in tax refunds. The scheme targeted both local businesses and organizations across the United States, including a Tukwila-based company.
If you’ve not read Out of Nigeria by J.L Brandler, I strongly recommended it. In the meantime, here’s a fascinating story about one of his sons:
Despite being the Queen of Spain's mother, Paloma Rocasolano is known for being 'very discreet'.
So, perhaps it's no wonder that the retired nurse's romance with British businessman Marcus Brandler, 68, has largely gone under-the-radar in the UK.
The 72-year-old struck up a relationship with the Nigerian-born entrepreneur in 2021 and Letizia and her sister Telma 'warmly welcomed him', according to local media reports.
Marcus has long been associated with Spain after previously marrying a Catalan woman from Banyoles in 1991. They went on to have three sons, Maximilian (1991), Joachim (1993), and Benjamin (1996).
He first settled in Barcelona before moving to Madrid, where he worked alongside his two UK-based brothers as the director of their family company, which was founded in Leeds 15 years ago and focused on the sale of coffee, tea, cocoa and other spices.
The jet-setting businessman frequently dealt with companies in Asia, 'having had several companies dedicated to import and export', according to magazine Semana.
But his family firm, Tillbrook, hit headlines this month after being dissolved following the passing of Robert Guy Mobolaji Brandler, the youngest of Marcus' four siblings. He died aged 53 in Kano, Nigeria, after a brief but serious illness, reported Vanitatis.
The newspaper claimed the business move shows Marcus - who had reportedly been living between the UK and Spain for years - is 'paving the way for retirement' as he enjoys a quieter life with King Felipe's mother-in-law.
[…]
Born in 1957 in Ibadan to British-African couple J.L. Brandler and Pamela Margaret, Marcus was one of five siblings.
He had been director of Tillbrook Products since 2019, after taking over the role from a family member, according to local reports.
But the partners, all Brandler family members, began liquidating the firm in 2023 and last February it was finally dissolved, reported Ok Diario. Marcus' name no longer appears on any company, according to Vanitatis.
The last recorded activity of the firm - which was said to still be making a profit - was reportedly in June 2023, when they presented their full accounts.
An analysis of Spotify’s recent payout distribution and how it lands in Africa:
Spotify’s latest Loud & Clear report underscored the point: In the digital era, where you live is a form of arbitrage.
When it comes to the value of music royalties, some artists have an advantage based on where they live.
Nigerian artists earned more than $43 million from Spotify in 2024, according to the streaming giant's latest Loud and Clear report. A "significant" portion of those royalties came from outside Nigeria, with exports of the country's music increasing 49% over the last three years. In other words, people in other countries -- many of which provide better royalties than are available in Nigeria -- are listening to Nigerian artists, effectively sending their money to the West African country.
[…]
Given the value of listeners in mature streaming markets, a stream in the U.S. and U.K. is worth far more than a stream in many other countries. Spotify costs $11.99 per month for an individual in the U.S. In Nigeria, an individual Spotify subscription costs the equivalent of $0.84 per month. And if Nigeria is like other developing markets, ad-supported streaming -- which returns less value to artists and rights holders -- is far more popular than paid subscriptions.
In Nigeria, $1 in the U.S. has the spending power of over $8, based on the difference between Nigeria's gross domestic product in nominal dollars and purchasing power parity. In other words, goods that cost $1 in Nigeria would cost $8 in the U.S. Other countries provide similar boosts in spending power. In Indonesia, $1 feels like $3.30 in the U.S. In Colombia, $1 has the spending power of $2.70. In Mexico, having $1 is like having $1.90 up north.
And somewhat related is how movie producers in Nigeria are now using YouTube as a replacement for Netflix and other streaming giants who have cut back investment in Nigeria:
The platform's impact was recently highlighted when actor and producer Omoni Oboli, best known for The Figurine and her self-produced Wives On Strike franchise, released a romantic comedy on her YouTube channel. Love In Every Word garnered one million views in less than a day and reached 10 million views within six days, earning glowing reviews for its syrupy, simple but deeply affecting story of love and hope. This achievement, which sparked conversations across social media platforms like X, demonstrated YouTube's power. Had Love In Every Word been released in cinemas or on a subscription service, expensive ticket prices or subscription fees would have likely limited its reach.
As legacy streaming platforms scale back investment in original content, the success of these YouTube releases points to a significantly underserved market that demands greater attention. Releasing an original film on YouTube is often perceived as less prestigious than theatrical or streaming service debuts. However, this perspective fails to consider market realities. With 38.9 percent of Nigerians living below the poverty line, YouTube—requiring only internet access—provides a sensible alternative in a country where participating in cinema culture has become increasingly expensive.
Recent developments underscore this economic reality: Cinema ticket prices increased last year as Nigeria's economy struggled. Netflix raised subscription fees by 40 percent in 2024. Netflix has only 169,000 subscribers in Nigeria—a tiny fraction of the population. By contrast, YouTube users in Nigeria are projected to reach 11.99 million by the end of 2025
More Benin Bronzes are on their way. This time from the Netherlands. This piece has a timeline of all repatriation announcements in 2025 so far:
The Netherlands announced they would return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. “This restitution contributes to redressing a historical injustice that is still being felt today,” Dutch minister of education, culture, and science Eppo Bruins said. “Cultural heritage is essential for telling and living the history of a country and a community. The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It is good that they are going back.” Olugbile Holloway, director-general of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, said, “We thank the Netherlands for their cooperation and hope this will set a good example for other nations of the world in terms of repatriation of lost or looted antiquities.”
News from Thailand (video of reckless driving included):
Local police have arrested three Nigerian nationals in two separate cases involving reckless driving and drug-related offenses, authorities announced Wednesday.
In the first incident on the night of March 11, Phuket City Police received reports of a Mazda car being driven recklessly, spinning in circles at traffic lights from Koh Kaew to Darasamut intersection. Thalang traffic officers pursued the vehicle but were initially unable to apprehend it as it sped along Chaloem Phra Kiat Rama 9 Bypass Road toward Central Junction.
Police eventually located the car in a dead-end alley near an ancient house in Nanachat Soi 2. Two shirtless men wearing only shorts fled into dense undergrowth but were captured after a physical struggle that left both suspects and officers with minor injuries
The suspects appeared intoxicated and were uncooperative, unable to communicate in English despite police using translation applications. Due to the late hour, interpreters could not be found immediately. The men were taken to Phuket City Police Station for processing, where they continued singing throughout the procedure.
One suspect was later identified as Mr. George, a Nigerian national wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court on August 21, 2023, for overstaying his visa and possession of Category 2 narcotics (cocaine). The second suspect remains unidentified as he had no passport documentation.
In a separate case, police apprehended a Nigerian man following an investigation that began after the viral arrest of a Swiss tourist caught using drugs in public on March 9. The tourist, identified only as Mr. Sascha, voluntarily entered drug rehabilitation and provided information to Kamala Police about his drug supplier.
Wow, cool call-back to the JL Brandler book. I think I bought it off of a passing recommendation you made in a tweet. Reading it was very much a 'plus ça change' experience. Also glad to know that my household's Spotify subscription plus Nigerian-heavy listening counts as (market-based) remittances lol