Below The Headlines - 87
President Tinubu is locked in with MAGA and Luke went to Katsina even though he was warned not to
Last newsletter for Q1 2025. How does that sound? Only 3 quarters left in 2025!
Nigerian shenanigans continue below. See you again next week.
Inside Nigeria
An incredible story about a now 75 year old man who has been stuck in a poverty trap selling ice creams on a bicycle for decades and can’t get out of it. The part that really stood out to me was this:
“Around 1986, the business was no longer as profitable as it used to be. At this point, I was gradually losing interest in the work, but I still stayed because I didn’t see any other job. I once thought of becoming an agent too, but the capital wasn’t commensurate with my earnings and savings. You will have to rent a shop, buy a freezer and other things that are needed to start up as an agent. “
By then, he already had rented an apartment in Maroko, and with careful savings, he bought a half-plot of land which he claimed was his first step toward stability.
The land in Maroko was meant to be his future, his retirement plan. He had saved diligently, buying a tipper of gravel for N90 to start construction. But in 1990, everything changed.
“The then-military administrator, Raji Rasaki, demolished the entire Maroko community. It was a day of anguish. I stood there, watching my land disappear. Back then, people didn’t talk much about Certificates of Occupancy (CofO); we just bought land and built on it. I didn’t know about it, so when the government announced that only those with CofOs would be relocated to a low-cost housing estate, I realized I had lost everything. What I had worked and saved for was gone. There was nothing I could do. Although I thank God I had not started to build on it because that would have taken my life.”
With his dream of having a property to call his own shattered with no safety net. Lawal immediately forgot the idea of retirement and had no choice but to keep pedalling.
“There was no way I could save up since then, because of commitments to the family. I also tried to seek help, but people only promised but didn’t fulfil their promises. I sold ice cream to some prominent people while they were still in school. At one point, some of them, including Princess Oyekan and one Mama Jide, contributed money to buy me a new bicycle when my old one was falling apart. I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I would be begging. So I continued my work and made the necessary provision for my family as much as I could.”
President Tinubu remains aligned with his American counterpart in cracking down on immigration. You have been warned:
The Federal Government has introduced a stricter immigration policy to address the issue of visa overstays in Nigeria, reinforcing its commitment to border control and national security.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, clarified that Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival policy has not been scrapped but emphasised the government’s firm stance on visa violations.
Tunji-Ojo announced that foreign nationals who exceed their visa duration by three months will face a five-year entry ban, while those who remain illegally for a year will be barred from re-entering Nigeria for ten years.
“If you overstay your Nigerian visa for three months, we will ban you for five years. If you overstay for one year, we will ban you for ten years,” Tunji-Ojo declared while speaking on Arise TV.
Some Yoruba youths are saying you can’t sit with us. Based on history or something:
A socio-political group, Think Yoruba First (TYF), has rejected a proposed bill before the House of Representatives that seeks to grant indigene rights to Nigerians who have either resided in a particular place for 10 years or have been married to an indigenous person for the same period.
In a statement signed by its executives—Dr Bukola Adeniji, Mr Kayode Ọlọkọ, Dr Mark Faleye, Engr Kunle Faleti, and Mr Bolarinwa Oladimeji—TYF argued that the bill, sponsored by Hon. Kalu Okezie, would erode the cultural and historical foundations of indigenous peoples across Nigeria and could fuel ethnic tensions, conflicts, and long-term instability.
The group maintained that global best practices do not grant indigenous status based on residency or marriage, citing examples such as Native Americans in the United States, Aboriginals in Australia, and indigenous communities in Canada and New Zealand.
“No serious nation undermines the rights of its indigenous people by arbitrarily granting indigenous status to settlers. Around the world, indigenous identity is tied to ancestry, cultural heritage, and historical connection to the land—not just residency or marriage.
“History has shown that forceful alteration of indigenous identity is a precursor to ethnic violence and civil unrest, especially in multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nations.
The message from this newsletter remains as it has always been - don’t do drugs:
Intelligence reports have it that three bandit leaders, Kachalla Dan Baba, Kachalla Abu Guddi, and Kachalla Bello Kurma, who operate in Zamfara State have lost their sanity after excessive use of hard drugs.
The bandit leaders, according to Zagazola, a counter-security expert, were said to have had sudden mental instability that made their gangs disarm them when they started wandering in the forests.
The development, which took place on March 27, 2025, disoriented their criminal factions, raising speculation among their followers.
Kachalla Dan Baba controls a large criminal network based in Kudo village, near Buzaya Forest in Maru Local Government Area. Dan Baba was said to have over 50 fighters under his command, orchestrating numerous kidnappings, highway ambushes, and cattle rustling operations in Zamfara and neighboring states.
While Kachalla Abu Guddi was another infamous warlord, headquartered in Gidan Garba village, Maru LGA. He was notorious for leading violent raids on communities, killing civilians, and engaging in arms trafficking.
Kachalla Bello Kurma has a base of operations deep within the Buzaya Forest, a known hideout for armed criminal gangs in Maru LGA. Security sources describe him as one of the most ruthless bandits in the region, with links to other terror groups operating in the North-West.
An intelligence source, who is a vigilante operative tracking bandit activities in the region, told Zagazola that the three bandit leaders began showing signs of erratic behavior, including talking to themselves, hallucinating, and making irrational decisions.
Witnesses claim that their own fighters, sensing weakness and fearing for their survival, seized their weapons and abandoned them in the forests.
“This is a very unusual situation. These men were feared warlords, controlling vast criminal networks. But something happened that caused them to lose their senses. Their followers saw that they were no longer fit to lead, so they disarmed them and left them to wander aimlessly,” the source said.
Incredible things are happening inside Lagos buses:
The economic hardship bedeviling Nigerians has forced many to indulge in several abnormal means to generate income for survival.
As parents are struggling, so children are turning to various means of survival.
Economy&Lifestyle discovered that in some cities, in several parts of the country, many commercial drivers, especially those with mini buses operating in academic environments, have now turned their vehicles into provisions’ stores.Items ranging from sweets, chewing gums, snacks, bread, beverages are displayed in these buses to easily attract passengers and clients.
Apart from these, Point of Sale, PoS, services are also rendered by these drivers, who display their bank account numbers at various angles in the vehicles.
Mr. Emmanuel Uromu, a driver, said: “I drive a mini-bus in an environment where mainly students reside.
“I noticed that such primary needs as milk, pen, bread, snacks among others are things these students buy and sometimes they hardly find time to get them.“So I decided to create a mini store in my bus as another means of survival since the money I get from this driving business hardly sustains myself and my family.
“When I started it was awkward because passengers were complaining of heat and you know how students are. So I fixed a small fan in the bus.
“So far I have had lots of patronage and some people even request things I don’t have.
“This has also helped me to grow the business.“It is one of the best decisions I have taken so far.”
Outside Nigeria
The UK government announced a new Executive Chair for its Innovate UK agency:
Tech entrepreneur and business leader Tom Adeyoola will head up Innovate UK to unlock the potential of British business and turbocharge growth through our Plan for Change.
Once confirmed by parliament, Tom will act as Chair of Innovate UK, part of the largest national public research funder, helping businesses turn cutting-edge ideas into real-world products.
The agency funds ambitious companies, drives transformative technologies, and oversees the UK’s Catapult Network, which connects businesses with world-class R&D expertise. Through its £100 million Innovation Accelerator programme, it is already creating high-skilled jobs and new opportunities in Glasgow, Manchester, and the West Midlands, helping these regions become global hubs for research, from advanced manufacturing to life sciences.
Over 450,000 innovators across the country were supported by the agency in 2023/2024, including support for successful scale-ups such as Pragmatic, a world leader in semiconductor innovation that has grown from a dozen to 330 employees in a decade – powering everyday tech from smartphones to medical devices, and Pragmatic’s ultra-thin, low-cost microchips open new possibilities for smart packaging and wearable health tech.
Innovate UK was an early backer of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, whose handheld DNA sequencing technology is now used worldwide – from diagnosing diseases faster to tracking viruses like COVID-19. Their success has not only transformed healthcare but also driven economic growth, with the company now valued at £1.49 billion and generating annual revenues of around £183 million.
British man ignored the Foreign Office advice and went on holiday to Katsina State. Enjoyment ensued:
A man ignored 'do not travel' warnings from the Foreign Office but ended up having a “beautiful” trip. Luke Leyland, 38, from Birkenhead , has been interested in martial arts from a young age.
It all started when Luke’s dad got him into taekwondo and he later became a professional wrestler in his twenties. He decided to move away from the sport after a few years to “try and live some form of a normal life”.
However Luke retained an interest in martial arts and started making his own documentaries about the sport in his spare time. Through this, he discovered Dambe a few years ago. Dambe is a little known form of boxing that has been popular among the Hausa people of Nigeria for more than 1000 years.
You win fights in the sport by putting your opponent down to the ground with a punch from a hand wrapped in a tight rope or with a kick.
Luke was desperate to go Nigeria himself to compete in a Dambe fight in Katsina State and learn more about the sport for a documentary he was filming. But an issue was the fact that the Foreign Office advises against all travel to the area.
Luke told the ECHO: “When I learnt about Dambe, I remember thinking, it is probably impossible for me to go there, but what if I could?
"I just started reaching out to different people. One of the groups that I spoke to was from Nigeria. I said that I wanted to make a documentary and take part in the sport.
“They said, 'it's never really been done by a westerner before, so it could go really well or really badly'. Eventually we involved an actual director and that’s when we started putting things in place.”
Incredible things continue to happen in the Sahel:
Under the cover of darkness, the jihadists moved into Wulgo, where the shores of Lake Chad meet the arid countryside of northern Nigeria.
Around 1:00 am, a "barrage" of rocket-propelled grenades was fired, sending Cameroonian troops, stationed there as part of an anti-jihadist coalition, into "disarray", a security source told AFP.
While the militants had disguised themselves in a nearby town as herders coming into the weekly market, they also might have had another advantage, according to an intelligence report seen by AFP: the use of armed drones.
The Tuesday morning attack, which sources said killed 25 Cameroonian troops in one of the region's deadliest incidents in recent months, comes as armed groups in west Africa turn towards the use of cheap, recreational drones -- modified into deadly, explosives-laden killers from above.
Armed groups in Nigeria and the Sahel have long used drones for surveillance and filming propaganda, but a shift is under way as jihadists and separatists kit them out for attacks.
"It's an available, at-reach technology, and it's easier and easier to use, and it's cheaper and cheaper," Wassim Nasr, researcher at the Soufan Center and journalist at France24, said. "It was only a matter of time before it arrived into the Sahel region and Nigeria."
Are we, the diaspora, the baddies?
Scenes playing out in Nigeria during holiday periods could be in a movie: emotional reunions at airport terminals, champagne flowing like water in high-end clubs and A-list Afrobeats performers dominating stages to packed audiences nationwide.
This is when Nigerians abroad return for a visit to the home country. They are nicknamed I Just Got Back (IJGB) and bring with them more than full suitcases.
Their Western accents dip in and out of Pidgin, their wallets are boosted by the exchange rate, and their presence fuels the economy.
But it also highlights an uncomfortable truth.
Those who live in Nigeria, earning in the local naira currency, feel shut out of their own cities, especially in the economic hub of Lagos and the capital, Abuja, as prices go up during festive periods.
Residents say this is particularly the case for "Detty December", a term used to refer the celebrations around Christmas and New Year.
Detty December makes Lagos almost unliveable for locals - traffic is horrible, prices inflate and businesses stop prioritising their regular customers, a radio presenter based in Lagos tells the BBC.
The popular media personality asked not to be named for voicing what some might consider controversial opinions.
But he is not the only one to hold these views and has some are pondering, with Easter and the diaspora summer holiday season approaching, whether the IJGBs are helping bridge Nigeria's class divide or are making it even wider.
"Nigeria is very classist. Ironically, we're a poor country, so it's a bit silly," the radio presenter adds.
"The wealth gap is massive. It's almost like we're worlds apart."
Put this date in your diary:
Nigerian Modernism
This large-scale exhibition continues Tate’s efforts to expand our understanding of global art movements. It celebrates artists who revolutionised modern art in Nigeria before and after national independence in 1960, combining African and European traditions to create new, multidisciplinary forms across painting, sculpture, textile, literature and poetry. Tate Modern, October 8 to spring 2026
A very sad story:
A lorry driver who killed a heavily-pregnant nurse along with her unborn child in a horrific motorway crash after she had pulled onto the hard shoulder is facing jail.
Trevor Norgate, 58, was behind the wheel of his HGV when it drifted onto the hard shoulder where Evelyn Brown, 41, had stopped in her Kia Sorento.
Footage of the smash on the M8 westbound near Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh on December 18 2023 was captured on Norgate's dash cam.
The court heard Norgate, of Bellshill, Lanarkshire, already had six points on his licence at the time for using a mobile phone while on the road.
He appeared in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow today where he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
Evelyn - known as Eve - died from her injuries. She was 34 weeks pregnant at the time and her unborn baby also passed away.
Prosecutors stated Norgate had 'allowed himself to become distracted' prior to the collision and that he should have seen Ms Brown's vehicle.
He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced next month, when he faces a prison sentence.
Prosecutor Jennifer Cameron told how Ms Brown was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK in 2015.
Ms Brown worked as an agency nurse for a company called Medline and had not long finished a 12-hour shift at East Lothian Community Hospital in Haddington when tragedy struck that morning.
The court heard Ms Brown, who had two young girls aged three and four, had texted her sister to say she was on her way home.
The French wine industry is in crisis. Chinedu Rita Rosa to the rescue:
French alcohol consumption has dropped for three decades in a row. Its major export markets are contracting – China's interest in the French wines hit its high five years ago and US President Donald Trump is threatening to continue his brutal tariffs regime on French-wine imports which he started in his first term.
Already last year, wine industry monitor portal Decanter observed that French wine exports are slumping and that wine region Bordeaux is struggling.
Enter Rosa, a wine consultant from Lagos in Nigeria, who runs a high-end wine consultancy in Bordeaux.
"Will you stop focusing on China? Will you stop focusing on the US?" she asks. "All of France's marketing is concentrated on these places."
Rosa, 49, started working in the wine industry in her home city in 2008, buying a wine shop.
She moved to Bordeaux in 2015 with her French husband, creating the Bordeaux Business Network and, more importantly, 'Vines by Rosa’, a wine marketing, export and events business, of which she is the CEO.
Today, she divides her time between France and Africa, spreading her knowledge of French wines at high-end events, hosting gala dinners that are attended by France’s top diplomats and members of local groups of entrepreneurs.
Nigerians are still at it with Guinness Records:
A Nigerian model has broken an unusual record for the fashion industry. 26-year-old Ololade Ayelabola has strutted for five days straight to break the record for longest catwalk.
Ayelabola spent 80 million naira (or around $51,612.90 U.S.) to complete this quest, wanting to inspire other emerging models. However, the journey did not come easy as she attempted to do what many could not, especially in heels.
According to BBC News Pidgin, preparation for the catwalk of Ayelabola’s life took six months. She and her team worked to ensure she could walk the more than 77 miles needed to win the contest. In the end, she walked a total of 77.75 miles at a fashion show in Lagos last October.
“To prepare for me [was not] easy, [with] blood and sweat, [it] cost us a lot, I spend 80 million naira,” explained Ayelabola. “For six months, me and [the people] begin [to] prepare [because] no be easy thing. Doctor and nurse [had given] medications so I [would be] ready.”
News from Kolkata:
A Nigerian national was sentenced to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to duping an elderly man of Rs 1 crore in 2021. Jefferson Eze Henry posed as an authorised official from Royal Bank of London, and created a fake e-mail ID and website, and hid his identity using VPN technology.
Apart from eight-year imprisonment, the Kolkata court has fined Henry with Rs 50,000.
Saibal Banerjee, an elderly man in Kolkata was duped of Rs 1 crore in 2021 by the Nigerian national. After Banerjee realised that he had been cheated, he filed a complaint with Kolkata Police, and an year-long probe led to Jefferson Eze Henry's arrest in 2022 in Mumbai.
Further probe revealed that Henry used VPN to create fake e-mail IDs and websites to cheat Saibal Banerjee.